 He was then recalled to Japan and served from 1939-1941 as Commandant of the Military Preparatory School.Promoted to lieutenant general in 1940, with the start of the Pacific War, Mutaguchi was given command of the 18th Division in April 1941.This division was active in the invasion of Malaya in the early stages of the war, and Mutaguchi himself was wounded during the Battle of Singapore in February 1942.