Hitoshi Imamura

Hitoshi Imamura
Japanese General Hitoshi Imamura
Native name	今村 均
Born	(1886-06-28)28 June 1886 Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Died	4 October 1968(1968-10-04) (aged 82)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1907–1945
Rank	General
Commands held	5th Division Twenty-Third Army Sixteenth Army Eighth Area Army
Battles/wars	World War II China New Guinea Solomon Islands

Hitoshi Imamura (今村 均, Imamura Hitoshi^?, 28 June 1886 – 4 October 1968) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

A native of Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, Imamura’s father was a judge. Imamura graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1907 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry on 26 December of that year. He was promoted to lieutenant in November 1910 and attended the Army War College (Japan) in 1915. He was promoted to captain in 1917, and was sent to England as a military attaché the following year. He was promoted to major in August 1922 and to lieutenant-colonel in August 1926. In April 1927, he was appointed as a military attaché to British India. Promoted to colonel on 1 August 1930, he held a number of staff positions in the Operations Section of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931-1932.

With the January 28 Incident of 1932, he was sent to take command of the IJA 57th Infantry Regiment. On his return to Japan, he became Commandant of the Narashino Army School from 1932-1935.

In March 1935, Imamura was promoted from regimental commander to brigade commander of the IJA 40th Infantry Brigade with the rank of major general. He was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff, of the Kwangtung Army in Manchukuo in March 1936. He was recalled to Japan to assume the post of Commandant of the Toyama Army Infantry School from 1937-1938.