Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office (大日本帝國陸軍参謀本部, initially as 參謀局; 1872 - 1945) was tasked with Imperial Japan's strategic planning and command functions, enjoying direct access to the emperor and freedom from oversight by the civilian government. While the War Ministry handled tasks like mobilization and logistics, the General Staff managed war plans, military intelligence, and cartography (through the Land Survey Bureau 陸地測量部). At the end of the Second World War, an early task of the U.S. occupation authorities was to dissolve the General Staff as part of a wider demilitarization of Japan.