1st Artillery Brigade (Japan) explained

Unit Name:	1st Artillery Brigade
Dates:	October 1952 – present
Country:	Japan
Type:	Artillery
Role:	Anti-ship warfare Artillery observer Counter-battery fire Fire support Indirect fire
Size:	Brigade
Command Structure:	Northern Army
Garrison:	Chitose
Current Commander:	Maj. Gen. Kenji Kagawa

The is the only active artillery brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The brigade is subordinated to the Northern Army and is headquartered in Chitose, Hokkaidō. Its responsibility is the defense of Hokkaidō.

Organization

1st Artillery Brigade, in Chitose
- 1st Artillery Brigade HQ, in Chitose
- 1st Artillery Regiment (Mechanized), in Chitose
  - 129th Artillery Battalion, with three batteries of M270 multiple rocket launchers
  - 131st Artillery Battalion, in Kamifurano, with three batteries of M270 multiple rocket launchers
- 1st Surface-to-Surface Missile Regiment, in Chitose, with four batteries of Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles
- 2nd Surface-to-Surface Missile Regiment, in Bibai, with four batteries of Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles
- 3rd Surface-to-Surface Missile Regiment, in Kamifurano, with four batteries of Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles
- 301st Observation Battery, in Chitose