Its call sign was the Intense Division (威烈兵団, Iretsu Heidan) (the first Japanese division with a two-letter call sign).
The division was raised and incorporated into the 29th army on 16 October 1944 to bolster defences in Malaya after the Japanese Army's defeat at the Battle of Imphal.
The division was to be used to defend Malaya against the expected Operation Zipper, and took a defensive positions on the north of Malaysia.
The division formally surrendered at Sungai Petani, Kedah on 8 October 1945 to Major General George N. Wood, commander of the 25th Indian Division, without engaging in any combat.
In November 1945, the engineer and transport regiment were sent to Rempang (in Riau Islands) and worked on infrastructure improvement, until been demobilized in Nagoya 30 May 1946.