Taiwan Army of Japan

The Taiwan Army of Japan (台湾軍) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army stationed on the island of Taiwan as a garrison force. Taiwanese were relegated to non-combatant civilian work as manual labourers, porters and Chinese language interpreters. Taiwanese were not allowed as combatants until 1942 when volunteers were permitted to enlist and all combatant soldiers from the Taiwan army of Japan before 1942 were ethnic Japanese. Japan only conscripted ethnic Taiwanese in 1945 in a last ditch attempt for manpower.

History
Following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki transferred control of Taiwan from the Qing Empire to the Empire of Japan. The Japanese government established the Governor-General of Taiwan based in Taihoku. The Governor-General of Taiwan was given control of local military forces on 20 August 1919, which formed the nucleus of the Taiwan Army of Japan.

Primarily a garrison force, the Japanese Taiwan Army was placed under control of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. A component of the Taiwan Army, the Taiwan Independent Combined Brigade, was active in numerous campaigns on the China, and was later expanded into the 48th Infantry Division. Troops from this army were also involved in the Nanjing Massacre in December 1937.

Towards the end of World War II, as the situation looked increasingly desperate for Japan, the Taiwan Army was merged with several other units garrisoning the island of Taiwan against possible Allied invasion, and the Taiwan Army was absorbed into the new Japanese Tenth Area Army on 22 September 1944, under which it formed the Taiwan District Army on 1 February 1945, but its command was directly by the Japanese 10th Area Army.