After minimal training, it was assigned to the Japanese Central China Area Army and participated at the Battle of Wuhan.
An effort to cross over into Hong Kong was thwarted by the US Navy, which resulted in the loss of most of the 86th Infantry Regiment when their transports were sunk.
Unable to reach Hong Kong, the 22nd Division turned south, and fought its way through Guangxi province (and participating in the Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou (a part of a general Japanese offensive during Operation Ichi-Go), until it linked with the Japanese-occupied French Indochina.
In 1945, the headquarters of the 22nd Division was in Bangkok, Thailand, and it contributed forces to the defense of Burma against the British (Operation Dracula).
The 22nd Division was dissolved in Bangkok with the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II; however, a number of its troops refused to return to Japan and defected to join the Viet Minh in their struggle for independence (First Indochina War) against the returning French colonial forces.