Fifty-Third Army (Japan)

Japanese Fifty-Third Army
Japanese Fifty-Third Army
Active	April 8, 1945 – August 15, 1945
Disbanded	August 15, 1945
Country	Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Corps
Engagements	World War II Operation Downfall;

The Japanese 53rd Army (第53軍, Dai-gojyūsan gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final days of World War II. ^[1]

History

The Japanese 53rd Army was formed on April 8, 1945, under the Japanese 12th Area Army, as part of the last desperate defense effort by the Empire of Japan to deter possible landings of Allied forces in central Honshū during Operation Downfall.^[2] The Japanese 53rd Army was based in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture and was thus intended to guard the western approaches and beachheads to Tokyo along Sagami Bay.^[3] It consisted mostly of poorly trained reservists, conscripted students and Volunteer Fighting Corps home guard militia. It was demobilized at the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, without having seen combat.

	Name	From	To
Commanding officer	Lieutenant General Yaezo Akashiba^[4]	7 April 1945	15 August 1945
Chief of Staff	Major General Hiroshi Onoda	6 April 1945	10 September 1945

^ Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. p. 6.
^ Drea, Edward (1998). Japanese Preparations for Defense of the Homeland. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1708-0.
^ Zaloga, Steven (2010). Defense of Japan. Osprey Publishing. pp. 30. ISBN 1-58545-044-8.
^ *Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook". Japanese Fifty-Third Army.

Drea, Edward J. (1998). "Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland & Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan". In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1708-0.
Frank, Richard B (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41424-X.
Jowett, Bernard (1999). The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-354-3.
Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
Marston, Daniel (2005). The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-882-0.
Skates, John Ray (1994). The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb Downfall. New York: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-972-3.
Zaloga, Steven L (2010). Defense of Japan. Oxford, U.K.: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-58545-044-8.