The Imperial General Headquarters or Daihonei, as part of the Supreme War Council was the supreme command for Japanese military forces during the World War II era. Its tactics development was divided into two distinct groups:

• Strike North Group - dominated by the Imperial Japanese Army
• Strike South Group - dominated by the Imperial Japanese Navy

Organization of the Imperial General Headquarters

The Emperor of Japan was Head of State and Commander of all the Armed Forces of Japan during World War II. In this case the Emperor was the Imperial Sun of Heaven of Great Japan, Hirohito. The Emperor was assisted in his tasks by the Imperial General Headquarters consisting of the ollowing:

• Chief of the Army General Staff,
• Chief of the Navy General Staff,
• Minister of War,
• Minister of the Navy,
• Inspectorate General of Military Training,
• Inspectorate General of Aviation .

Organization of the Imperial Japanese Army -- December 8, 1941

The majority of these troops were stationed in China, Indochina, Japan, Formosa, Korea, and Manchuria. This includes some 61 divisions, 59 cavalry brigades, and 51 air squadrons. Only a fraction of Japan's military, 11 to 14 divisions and the South Seas Detachment, would be available for the December 1941 operations in southeast Asia and the Pacific.

• Imperial General Headquarters
  • IJA General Staff - headed by a Chief(General Sugiyama ) and several Vice Chiefs.
    • General Affairs Bureau
      • Organization and Mobilization Department
      • training Department
    • 1st(Operations) Bureau
      • Operations Department
      • Defence Department
    • 2d (Intelligence)Bureau
      • Europe and the Americas Department
      • China Department
      • Russia/Soviet Union Department
      • Intelligence Department
    • 3d (Transport and Communications) Bureau
      • Transport Department
      • Communications Department
    • 4th (Historical) Bureau
      • Military History Department
      • Strategy and Tactics Department
    • General Staff College
    • Land Survey Department
  • Ministry Of War
  • General Defense Command
  • China Expeditionary Army
  • Kwantung Theater Army
  • Southern Expeditionary Army
  • Units under direct General Staff control
    • Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
    • 4th Infantry Division
    • South Seas Detachment
    • 1st Army Hospital
    • 2nd Army Hospital
    • 3rd Army Hospital
    • Korean Remount Department
    • Army Air Service Transport Department
    • IGHQ Communicatons Department

See also:

• Military History of Japan

US Navy Department, US War Department, Supreme Allied Headquarters