 He was second-in-command of the IJA 17th Army under General Harukichi Hyakutake during the initial period of the Bougainville campaign, and (as lieutenant general) later took command of the 17th Army after Hyakutake suffered a stroke in 1945.Kanda surrendered Japanese forces on Bougainville to Allied commanders on 8 September 1945.After the war, Kanda was tried and convicted of war crimes by the Allies, sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, and began his sentence in 1948.