The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was the . It was created 28 February 1945 in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

,89th Division (Sai)
/ref> by cobbling together 43rd and 69th independent mixed brigades, converted to 3rd and 4th mixed brigades, plus headquarters of the 77th division. It was an oversized (because the constituent brigades were including a six infantry battalions each since July 1944) type C(hei) security division.

Action

The ''89th division'' was assigned to the 5th area army 27 March 1945. The 3rd mixed brigade and headquarters were staying on the

Iturup Iturup (; ), also historically known by #Names, other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly mi ...

island, while parts of 4th mixed brigade part was garrisoning

Shikotan Shikotan, also known as Shpanberg or Spanberg, is an island in the Kurils administered by the Russian Federation as part of Yuzhno-Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast. It is claimed by Japan as the titular , organized as part of Nemuro Subpre ...

island. Also, one battalion of the 4th mixed brigade was deployed on

Kunashir Island Kunashir Island (; ; ), possibly meaning ''Black Island'' or ''Grass Island'' in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took po ...

. The ''89th division'' has relied on heavy fortifications of Minami Chishima Fortress. After the Soviet

Invasion of the Kuril Islands The Invasion of the Kuril Islands () was the World War II Soviet military operation to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan in 1945. The invasion, part of the Soviet–Japanese War, was decided on when plans to land on Hokkaido were abandoned. ...

has started 18 August 1945, the

was invaded 1 September 1945, while

garrison have surrendered 4 September 1945 without resistance, as the hostilities ceased 2 September 1945. The majority of ''89th division'' prisoners were returned by

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1948.

References and further reading

* List of Japanese Infantry Divisions * Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 This article incorporates material from the article 第89師団 (日本軍) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 22 June 2016. Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1945 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan {{Japan-mil-unit-stub

Action

See also

References and further reading