 The regiment was attached to the 38th Division.The regiment participated during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the conquest of Hong Kong in 1941, the Dutch East Indies in early 1942, the Guadalcanal Campaign and Papua Campaign.While the 1st and 2nd Battalions were on Guadalcanal, its 3rd Battalion fought in the Battle of Buna–Gona in Territory of Papua from November 1942 to January 1943, where it was destroyed.