<P> In 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army had an overall strength of 198,880 officers and men, organized into 17 divisions . The Manchurian incident, as it became known in Japan, was a pretended sabotage of a local Japanese - owned railway, an attack staged by Japan but blamed on Chinese dissidents . Action by the military, largely independent of the civilian leadership, led to the invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and, later, to the Second Sino - Japanese War, in 1937 . As war approached, the Imperial Army's influence with the Emperor waned and the influence of the Imperial Japanese Navy increased . Nevertheless, by 1938 the Army had been expanded to 34 divisions . </P> <P> From 1932--1945 the Empire of Japan and the Soviet Union had a series of conflicts . Japan had set its military sights on Soviet territory as a result of the Hokushin - ron doctrine, and the Japanese establishment of a puppet state in Manchuria brought the two countries into conflict . The war lasted on and off with the last battles of the 1930s (the Battle of Lake Khasan and the Battles of Khalkhin Gol) ending in a decisive victory for the Soviets . The conflicts stopped with the signing of the Soviet--Japanese Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941 . However, later, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan; and on August 5, 1945, the Soviet Union voided their neutrality agreement with Japan . </P> <P> In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army had 51 divisions and various special - purpose artillery, cavalry, anti-aircraft, and armored units with a total of 1,700,000 men . At the beginning of the Second World War, most of the Japanese Army (27 divisions) was stationed in China . A further 13 divisions defended the Mongolian border, due to concerns about a possible attack by the Soviet Union . From 1942, soldiers were sent to Hong Kong (23rd Army), the Philippines (14th Army), Thailand (15th Army), Burma (15th Army), Dutch East Indies (16th Army), and Malaya (25th Army). By 1945, there were 5.5 million men in the Imperial Japanese Army . </P> <P> From 1943, Japanese troops suffered from a shortage of supplies, especially food, medicine, munitions, and armaments, largely due to submarine interdiction of supplies, and losses to Japanese shipping, which was worsened by a longstanding rivalry with the Imperial Japanese Navy . The lack of supplies caused large numbers of fighter aircraft to become unserviceable for lack of spare parts, and "as many as two - thirds of Japan's total military deaths (to result) from illness or starvation". </P>

What was the name of japan army during second world war