Original: The Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) ( KyÅ '' jitai : å æ -- æ å å é è '' , Shinjitai : , Romaji : Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun ) , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1871 to 1945 .
Simplified: The Imperial Japanese Army , abbreviated IJA ( KyÅ '' jitai : å æ -- æ å å é è '' , Shinjitai : , Romaji : Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun ) was an army of Japan . It was the official army of Imperial Japan from 1871 to 1945 .