Editing Hitoshi Imamura (section)

==Pacific War==
Imamura became the commander of the [[Sixteenth Army (Japan)|Sixteenth Army]] in November 1941 and was directed to lead that army in the [[Dutch East Indies campaign|invasion of the Dutch East Indies]]. As his fleet approached [[Java]], his transport, the ''Shinshu (Ryujo) Maru'', was sunk by torpedoes, probably by [[friendly fire]], in the [[Battle of Sunda Strait]] and he was forced to swim to shore.<ref>Chen, WW2 Database</ref>

Imamura adopted an unusually lenient policy towards the local population of the former Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), which was often in conflict with general opinions and plans of the senior staff of the [[Southern Expeditionary Army Group|Southern Army]] and [[Imperial General Headquarters]]. However, his policies won much support from the population (particularly in Java, where he was based) and helped to mildly reduce the difficulties of the Japanese military occupation. In late 1942, he assumed command of the new [[Japanese Eighth Area Army|Eighth Area Army]], responsible for the [[Seventeenth Army (Japan)|Seventeenth Army]] in the [[Solomon Islands campaign]] and the [[Eighteenth Army (Japan)|Eighteenth Army]] in the [[New Guinea campaign]]. Imamura was then based at [[Rabaul]] in [[New Britain]].<ref>Budge, Pacific War Online Encyclopedia</ref> Imamura was promoted to general in 1943.