7th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

7th Division
Active	1888–1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Garrison/HQ	Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan
Nickname(s)	Bear Division (熊兵団, Kuma-heidan?)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Nagayama Takeshiro, Ueda Arisawa, Uehara Yusaku, Watanabe Jotaro, and Osami Okiie

7th Division (第7師団, Dai-nana Shidan^?) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call-sign was the Bear Division (熊兵団, Kuma-heidan^?).

The 7th Division was formed in Sapporo, Hokkaidō on 12 May 1888, as the first new infantry division to be created after the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army away from six regional commands and into a divisional command structure. The reorganization was recommended by Prussian military advisor Jakob Meckel. It was responsible for the defence of Hokkaidō, which it divided into four operational areas (Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa and Kushiro). As one of the projects of the Japanese government was to encourage the settlement of Hokkaidō by ex-soldiers, the 7th Division was over-strength, and contained many soldiers originally from other areas of Japan. The territorial division was converted to field infantry division 12 May 1896, in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War. 30 October 1901, most of division units were transferred to Takasu village in Kamikawa (Ishikari) District, Hokkaido, where previously only 28th infantry regiment was located. After extensive building project, the division moved to new Takasu headquarters 21 October 1902, and 25 October 1902 the Sapporo Military prison was moved to the same location.

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