The Japanese 5th Area Army was formed on March 16, 1944 under the
General Defense Command as part of the last desperate defense effort by the
Empire of Japan to deter possible landings of
Allied forces in
Hokkaidō,
Karafuto/South
Sakhalin and the
Chishima Islands/
Kuriles during
Operation Downfall (or in Japanese terminology). It remained directly under the
Imperial General Headquarters and was headquartered in
Sapporo. The 5th Area Army leadership also held equivalent posts in the
Northern District Army, and had the honor of receiving their appointments personally from
Emperor Hirohito rather than the
Imperial General Headquarters. Although the Japanese were able to raise large numbers of new soldiers, training and equipping them was more difficult. By August, the Japanese Army had the equivalent of 65 divisions in the homeland but only enough equipment for 40 and only enough ammunition for 30. The 5th Area Army consisted mostly of poorly trained
reservists,
conscripted students and
home guard militia. In addition, the Japanese had organized the
Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps — which included all healthy men aged 15–60 and women 17–40 — to perform combat support, and ultimately combat jobs. Weapons, training, and uniforms were generally lacking: some men were armed with nothing better than muzzle-loading
muskets,
longbows, or bamboo spears; nevertheless, they were expected to make do with what they had.
Soviet invasion of Manchuria After breaking the
Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the
Soviet Union invaded
Karafuto and the
Kuril Islands on August 11, 1945, just four days before the
surrender of Japan. Although the
Red Army outnumbered the
Japanese 88th Division by three to one, it was unable to advance until additional reinforcements arrived on 16 August due to strong Japanese resistance. Actual fighting continued until August 21, and the capital of
Toyohara fell on August 25. Many surviving soldiers of the 5th Area Army in Karafuto and
Chishima became
prisoners of war in Siberia and other parts of the Soviet Union until the mid-1950s. Units of the 5th Area Army based in Hokkaidō were
demobilized after the
surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945. ==List of Commanders==