Its troops were recruited primarily from communities in the northern portion of the island of Kyūshū[1] and it was originally headquartered within Kokura Castle (now part of the city of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka) During the Russo-Japanese War, under the command of Lieutenant General Inoue Hikaru, the division deployed to Manchuria as part of the 1st army.

It returned to Kokura after the war, and was deployed again to the continent during the Japanese intervention in Siberia from 19 August 1918.

During that period, the 12th division was an elite unit, sporting an disproportionately large amount of firepower and heavy equipment.

The 12th Division, under Lieutenant General Masakazu Kawabe was then permanently relocated to Manchukuo from July 1940, coming under the control of the Japanese Third Army in Dongning and was used primarily for policing and anti-partisan activities.

However, in 1944 as the Pacific War situation became increasing unfavorable for Japan, the 12th Division was transferred to Hsinchu, Taiwan, where it bolstered the defenses of the 10th area army (and to the 40th army in time it was based on Taiwan in early 1945) against a possible Allied invasion.