 He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1939.After a brief stint at the Army Aviation Technology Research Institute, he was given a field command as the commander of the newly-formed IJA 56th Division from August 1940.Although initially the 56th division was slated as reinforcements for the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the rapid cessation of British resistance resulted in division been attached to IJA 25th Army and sent to Burma in March 1942, landing in Rangoon and participating in the Battle of Toungoo.