Imperial Japanese Armed Forces
| Imperial Japanese Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| 大日本帝国軍/日本軍 | |
| Founded | 3 January 1868 |
| Disbanded | November 1945 |
| Service branches | |
| Headquarters | Imperial General Headquarters |
| Leadership | |
| Emperor of Japan | Meiji (1868–1912) Taishō (1912–1926) Hirohito (1926–1945) |
| Personnel | |
| Conscription | 18–35 |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Japan |
| Ranks | Army ranks Navy ranks |
The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF, full Japanese: 帝国陸海軍, romanized: Teikoku riku-kaigun or Nippon-gun (日本軍) for short, meaning "Japanese Forces") were the unified forces of the Empire of Japan. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868, they were disbanded in 1945, shortly after Japan's defeat to the Allies of World War II; the revised Constitution of Japan, drafted during the Allied occupation of Japan, replaced the IJAF with the present-day Japan Self-Defense Forces.
The Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy functioned as the IJAF's primary service branches, with the country's aerial power being split between the Army Air Service under the former and the Navy Air Service under the latter.