He commanded the combat troops at Finschhafen from August, and in 1945 was attached to 18th Army.
The nearest large town is the Morobe provincial capital Lae to the south, while settlements on the north coast include the former German town of Finschhafen, the district capital of Wasu, Malalamai and Saidor with its World War II era Saidor Airport.
During the Japanese Navy's planning of their New Guinea Campaign (air strikes against Lae and Salamaua, disembarkation in Huon Gulf, New Britain (Rabaul), New Ireland (Kavieng), Finch Harbor (also called Finschhafen), and the capture of Morobe and Buna), it envisioned those territories as support points to implement the capture of Port Moresby.