64th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

The 64th Division (第64師団) was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Open Division (開兵団). It was formed on 1 May 1943 in Hubei province, simultaneously with the 62nd and 63rd divisions as a security (type C) division. The nucleus for the formation was the 12th from Chuzhou. As a security division, it lacked an artillery regiment. The men of the division were drafted from the Hiroshima mobilization district.

Action
10 July 1943, the 64th division was assigned to 20th army. The division garrisoned then Yangzhou, Jiangbei District, Ningbo, Zhenjiang and Wuxi. With the 11th army planning Battle of Changsha (1944) in March 1944, the 64th division was reassigned to Changsha area.

The 64th division has started to participate in the Operation Ichi-Go from October 1944. It was still in Changsha at the day of surrender of Japan 15 August 1945.

The divisions was able to concentrate at headquarters 6 September 1945. 1 May 1946 evacuationhas started via the Yueyang - Wuchang - Hankou - Zhengzhou - Xuzhou - Nanjing route, finally arriving to Shanghai 10 June 1946. 20 June six parties sailed from Shanghai to Sasebo, and were demobilized 15 July 1946. 79 men have left Shanghai 24 June 1946, and arrived to Kagoshima 2 July to be immediately demobilized. First large batch, the veterinary department and other auxiliaries, totalling 344 men, have sailed from Shanghai 25 June 1946, arriving to Sasebo 26 June 1946, and to Fukuoka 1 July 1946. That batch was demobilized 6 July 1946. 1 July 1946 main divisional troops have started to depart from Shanghai, and last batch of 532 soldiers was demobilized in Uraga 1 August 1946.

Reference and further reading
Allentown, PA: 1981
 * Madej, W. Victor. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 [2 vols]