15th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

15th Division
former IJA 15th Division HQ in Toyohashi, Aichi
Active1 April 1905 – May 1925
4 April 1938 – 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
Size25,000 men / 15,000 men
Garrison/HQToyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Nickname(s)Festival Division
EngagementsRusso-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, Minami Jiro, and Kanji Ishiwara

The 15th Division (第15師団, Dai Jūgo Shidan) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Festival Division (祭兵団, Sai Heidan), and its military symbol was 15D. The 15th 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 15th Division was initially raised from men in the area surrounding Nagoya under the command of Lieutenant General Okihara Kofu.