16th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

16th Division
IJA 16th Division HQ in Kyoto
Active1905 - 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
Size25,000 men
Garrison/HQKyoto
Nickname(s)Wall Division
EngagementsRusso-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
Pacific War
Commanders
Current
commander
Prince Nashimoto (Morimasa)
Minami Jiro
Kanji Ishiwara
Shiro Makino

The 16th Division (第16師団, Dai Jūroku Shidan) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Wall Division (垣兵団, Kaki Heidan), and its military symbol was 16D. The 16th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). With Japan's limited resources towards the end of that conflict, the entire IJA was committed to combat in Manchuria, leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese home islands from attack. The 16th Division was initially raised from men in the area surrounding Kyoto 18 July 1905 under the command of Lieutenant General Yamanaka Nobuyoshi.