query: service_retirement type 96 15 cm howitzer
supports: The , literally "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire", was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan, from 1871 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of War, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Military (Army) Aviation became the third agency with oversight of the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad-hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the minister of war, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the inspector general of military aviation, and the inspector general of military training. Hiroshima is perhaps best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped an atomic bomb on the city (and later on Nagasaki) at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. The as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. The was the historical Japanese nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan. The United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, during the final stage of World War II. The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. The was a heavy howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The Type 4 designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the 4th year of Emperor Taish's reign (1915). The Second Sino-Japanese War (September 18, 1931  September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan from 1931 to 1945. The First Sino-Japanese War happened in 189495. In January 2017, the Chinese Government extended their official definition of the Second Sino-Japanese War back to September 18, 1931  the Invasion of Manchuria by Japan  as opposed to the traditional 1937 start date, defined by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
  China fought Japan, with some economic help from Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war would merge into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. One could call the Second Sino-Japanese War part of World War II, but the latter conflict is still mainly considered to have started in 1939 when France and the British Empire declared war on Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland. The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century. It accounted for the majority of civilian and military casualties in the Pacific War, with anywhere between 10 and 25 million Chinese civilians and over 4 million Chinese and Japanese military personnel dying from war-related violence, famine, and other causes. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, during the reign the emperor is called "the (present) Emperor". After death he is known by a posthumous name that, according to a practice dating to 1912, is the name of the era coinciding with his reign. Having ruled during the Taish period, he is posthumously known as "The Taish Emperor" or simply "Emperor Taish". World War II (often abbreviated to WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nationsincluding all of the great powerseventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust (in which approximately 11 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (in which approximately one million were killed, and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history. The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and is the ceremonial head of state of Japan's system of constitutional monarchy. According to the 1947 constitution, he is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people." Historically, he is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion as he and his family are said to be the direct descendants of the sun-goddess Amaterasu, and his importance also lies in dealing with heavenly affairs, including Shinto ritual and rites throughout the nation. The Type 96 15 cm howitzer (  Kyroku - shiki Jygo - senchi Rydanh ) was a 149.1 mm calibre howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It was intended to replace the Type 4 15 cm howitzer in front line combat units from 1937 , although it fired the same ammunition . The Type 96 designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the year 2596 of the Japanese calendar ( 1936 ) .
candidates: 1893 1912 1915 1931 1937 1939 1945 1947
answer: 1945