The
IJA 5th Division was dispatched to protect Japanese nationals and property in
Tianjin, China in June 1900 after the start of the Boxer Rebellion. It formed the core of the Japanese expeditionary forces in
northern China. Under the terms of the
Boxer Protocol, Japan was allowed to maintain a military garrison to guard its embassy, concessions in China, as well as certain strategic fortifications and ports. The IJA 5th Division was thus transformed into the Chinese Empire Garrison Army in June 1901. After the
Xinhai Revolution overthrew the
Qing dynasty and the
Republic of China was proclaimed in 1911, the name was considered an anachronism, and the Chinese Empire Garrison Army was thus renamed in 1912 to the China Garrison Army. From April 1936, as
diplomatic relations between Japan and China continued to worsen, the China Garrison Army was reinforced with ten companies of
infantry and one combined regiment. Its forces were involved in the clash with the Chinese in the
Marco Polo Bridge Incident that triggered the
Second Sino-Japanese War. The China Garrison Army was reinforced in July 1937 with the
IJA 20th Division from
Korea and two Independent combined
brigades from the
Kwantung Army in
Manchukuo, and subsequently with an additional three infantry divisions (the
IJA 5th Division,
IJA 6th Division and
IJA 10th Division) from the
Japanese home islands for the
Battle of Beiping-Tianjin and
Operation Chahar. The China Garrison Army was abolished on 26 August 1937 and its forces redistributed between the
Japanese First Army,
Japanese Second Army and
Japanese Northern China Area Army. Garrison duties for the Tianjin area were assigned to the
IJA 27th Division. ==List of Commanders==