 He was further promoted to lieutenant general on March 23, 1945 and given command of the IJA 109th Division.By mid-1945, due to the Allied naval blockade, the 25,000 Japanese troops on Chichijima had run low on supplies.However, although the daily ration of rice had been reduced from 400g per person a day to 240g, the troops were in no risk of starvation.