The was an army

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

 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...

. It was raised and demobilized on three separate occasions.

History

The Japanese 1st Army was initially raised during the First Sino-Japanese War

First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

 from September 1, 1894 to May 28, 1895 under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo

Field Marshal Prince , also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese...

. It participated in all of the major battles of that conflict, and was demobilized at the successful end of that war.

It was revived for the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 from February 2, 1904 to December 9, 1905 under the command of General Kuroki Tamemoto

Kuroki Tamemoto

Count was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the head of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and his forces enjoyed a series of successes during the Manchurian fighting at the Battle of Yalu River, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shaho and the Battle of...

. Its forces were the first to land in Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 and Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

 and it fought in most of the major campaigns of the war, including the Battle of Nanshan

Battle of Nanshan

The was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 25 May 1904 across a two-mile wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on the 116-meter high Nanshan Hill, the present-day Jinzhou District,...

, Battle of Te-li-Ssu

Battle of Te-li-Ssu

The Battle of Te-li-ssu , also called Battle of Wafangou after the nearby railway station, was a land battle of the Russo-Japanese War. It was fought at a hamlet some north of Port Arthur, Manchuria. The hamlet is known today as Delisi, and is located just north of Wafangdian, Liaoning Province,...

, Battle of Tashihchiao

Battle of Tashihchiao

The Battle of Tashihchiao was a small-scale land engagement fought on 24 July - 25 July 1904, during the Japanese advance toward Liaoyang in first stage of the Russo-Japanese War. Tashihchiao is located about 25 kilometers [16 miles] southwest of the city of Haicheng, in present-day Liaoning...

, Battle of Shaho

Battle of Shaho

The Battle of Shaho was a land battle of the Russo-Japanese War fought along a front centered at the Sha River on the Mukden–Port Arthur spur of the China Far East Railway just north of Liaoyang, Manchuria.-Background:...

, Battle of Liaoyang

Battle of Liaoyang

The Battle of Liaoyang was one of the major land battles of the Russo-Japanese War....

, Battle of Sandepu

Battle of Sandepu

The Battle of Sandepu, was a major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War. It was fought within a group of villages about 36 miles southwest of Mukden, Manchuria.-Background:...

, and Battle of Mukden

Battle of Mukden

One of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I, the , the last major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden in Manchuria...

. It was again demobilized at the end of that conflict.

The Japanese 1st Army was raised again on August 26, 1937 in 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...

, China under the Japanese China Garrison Army

Japanese China Garrison Army

The was formed 1 June 1901 as the , as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It was renamed the China Garrison Army on 14 April 1912.-History:...

. In addition to protecting the Japanese settlement at Tianjin, it served as a reinforcement to the newly formed 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,...

 following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident

Marco Polo Bridge Incident

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...

 during the Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

. The 1st Army subsequently participated in various campaigns in north China

North China

thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....

 under the operational command 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,...

, including the North China Incident

Battle of Beiping-Tianjin

The Battle of Beiping-Tianjin , also known as the “Peiking-Tientsin Operation” or by the Japanese as the was a series of battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War fought in the proximity of Beiping and Tianjin...

, Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation

Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation

The Japanese 京漢線作戦 or Peiking–Hankou Railway Operation was a follow up operation to the Peiking Tientsin Operation of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese advanced to the south along the Peiking - Hankou Railway toward the Yellow River.....

, and the Battle of Taiyuan

Battle of Taiyuan

The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan was a major battle fought between China and Japan named for Taiyuan , which lay in the 2nd Military Region...

 before being demobilized at 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...

, Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

 province after the end of World War II

Surrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

 on September 30, 1945.

Commanding officer

	Name	From	To
1	Marshal Yamagata Aritomo Yamagata Aritomo Field Marshal Prince , also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese...	1 September 1894	19 December 1894
2	Marshal Nozu Michitsura Nozu Michitsura -External links:...	19 December 1894	28 May 1895
X	demobilized	28 May 1895	2 February 1904
3	Marshal Kuroki Tamemoto Kuroki Tamemoto Count was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the head of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and his forces enjoyed a series of successes during the Manchurian fighting at the Battle of Yalu River, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shaho and the Battle of...	2 February 1904	9 December 1905
X	demobilized	9 December 1905	31 August 1937
4	Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki Kiyoshi Katsuki -External links:* at imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp- Notes :...	26 August 1937	30 May 1938
5	General Yoshijirō Umezu	30 May 1938	7 September 1939
6	Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka Yoshio Shinozuka Yoshio Shinozuka is a former Imperial Army soldier who served with a top secret Japanese biological warfare group called Unit 731 in World War II....	7 September 1939	20 June 1941
7	Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu	20 June 1941	1 August 1942
8	General Teiichi Yoshimoto	1 August 1942	22 November 1944
9	Lieutenant General Raishiro Sumida	22 November 1944	30 September 1945

Chief of Staff

	Name	From	To
1	Major General Ogawa Mataji	1 September 1894	28 May 1895
X	demobilized	28 May 1895	2 February 1904
2	Major General Fujii Shigeta	2 February 1904	9 December 1905
X	demobilized	9 December 1905	26 August 1937
3	Major General Gun Hashimoto	26 August 1937	27 January 1938
4	Major General Shōjirō Iida Shojiro Iida - Notes :...	27 January 1938	9 November 1938
5	Lieutenant General Senichi Kushibuchi	9 November 1938	9 March 1940
6	Major General Ryukichi Tanaka Ryukichi Tanaka -External links:*- Notes :...	9 March 1940	2 December 1940
7	Major General Hideyoshi Kusuyama	2 December 1940	1 December 1941
8	Lieutenant General Tadashi Hanaya	1 December 1941	23 October 1943
9	Major General Ichimaro Horike	23 October 1943	16 December 1944
10	Major General Michitake Yamaoka	16 December 1944	September 1945