Japanese Eighth Area Army  The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The Japanese 8th Area Army was formed on November 16, 1942 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposing landings by Allied forces in Japanese-occupied Solomon Islands and New Guinea. It had its headquarters at Rabaul, New Britain and saw considerable combat in the Solomon Islands campaign, Bougainville campaign and New Guinea campaign.