The , was one of four armored divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

History

The 3rd Tank Division was raised in Mengjiang

Mengjiang

Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...

 on June 24, 1942 as part of the Japanese Northern China Area Army

Japanese Northern China Area Army

The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:The Japanese North China Area Army was formed on August 21, 1937 under the control of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to the newly formed China Expeditionary Army on September 23,...

 under the overall aegis of the Mongolia Garrison Army

Mongolia Garrison Army

The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-History:The Japanese Mongolia Garrison Army was raised on December 27, 1937 as a garrison force Japanese-dominated Inner Mongolia and adjacent areas of north China. From July 4, 1938, the Mongolia Garrison Army came under the...

Initially tasked primarily with border patrol of Manchukuo's western frontier with the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, from April 1944, it participated in Operation Ichi-Go in northern China

Northern and southern China

Northern China and southern China are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions has never been precisely defined...

 against the National Revolutionary Army

National Revolutionary Army

The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...

 of the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

.

The 3rd Tank Division’s IJA 8th Armored Regiment (formerly based in Mukden) was detached in June 1944, and transferred to the control of the Japanese Eighth Area Army in Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

.

The IJA 12th Armored Regiment, formerly based in Taiyuan

Taiyuan

Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...

, was withdrawn to bolster the defenses of Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 in Korea

Korea under Japanese rule

Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....

 towards the closing stages of the war and as part of the Japanese Seventeenth Area Army was in combat against the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

’s invasion of Manchuria.

The IJA 13th Armored Regiment, normally based in Hankou

Hankou

Hankou was one of the three cities whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han falls into the Yangtze...

 was withdrawn to Tianjin

Tianjin

' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

 in 1944, and ended the war in Changsha. The IJA 17th Armored Regiment ended the war in Tianjin.

The 3rd Tank Division was officially demobilized

Demobilization

Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...

 in September 1945 with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Commanding officer

	Name	From	To
1	Lieutenant General Isaku Nishihara	1 December 1942	7 January 1944
2	Lieutenant General Hideo Yamaji	7 January 1944	30 September 1945