Formed as the 65th Brigade in early 1941 in Hiroshima, Japan, it was raised from the previously existing 65th Independent Infantry Group, which had itself been raised in 1940–1941 and consisted of the 122nd, 141st and 142nd Infantry Regiments. Upon its conversion to a brigade, the formation received a small number of support units. After occupying Formosa, the brigade fought in the Philippines, as part of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army.