July 1940. The 16th Division was assigned to the 14th Area Army 6 November 1941 and participated in the Philippines campaign (1941–1942). Later it was based in Manila as a garrison force. However, as the war situation deteriorated in August 1944, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 16th Division to Leyte Island as part of the 35th Army for a final decisive stand against Allied forces. 22 October 1944, the divisional headquarters were placed in Dagami, which contributed to the difficulty controlling troops in Kananga - Jaro - Tanauan - Tabontabon - Catmon hill in Tolosa - Julita - Burauen semi-circular defence perimeter. The initial US attack on Tabontabon was repulsed 25 October 1944, but Tabontabon positions were lost 28 October 1944, followed by outlying stronghold of Catmon hill in Tolosa 29 October 1944. As the result of the Tabontabon breakthrough, the northern part of the Japanese positions in Jaro was cut off and annihilated 29 October 1944, followed by Rizal in Kananga and Dagami itself falling to US forces 30 October 1944. Disorganized and cut off survivors of the division have gathered together in a single battalion (about 500 men) by 2 December 1944 in a mountains southwest of Dagami. That battalion has led the Battle of the Airfields 6 December 1944, an attack on abandoned US airstrips on Leyte east coast, which failed after some initial successes 9 December 1944. After the capture of the Ormoc by US 77th division 10 December 1944, the survivors of the 16th division (about 200 men at this point) were ordered to disengage and retreat westward. 16th division commander, Lieutenant General Shiro Makino, was ordered to control all of the Japanese forces remaining on Leyte after 17 March 1945, and committed suicide during the battle, 10 August 1945. Of the approximately 13,000 men in the 16th Division, only 620 survived the Battle of Leyte. Post-war use The building today exists as Kyoto Seibo Gakuin High School as a private high school founded in 1949 in the current site. It served as a model for the school named "Usagiyama High School" in the 2013 anime television series Tamako Market. See also List of Japanese Infantry Divisions Reference and further reading Madej, W. Victor. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 [2 vols] Allentown, PA: 1981 Yamamoto, Masahiro. Nanking: Anatomy of an Atrocity. Greenwood Publishing, (2000) Rottman, Gordon. Japanese Army in World War II: