The Manchukuo Imperial Army was the armed force of the Japanese dominated puppet state of Manchukuo, serving as the land forces, along with the Manchukuo Imperial Guards. There was also a Manchukuo Imperial Air Force and a Manchukuo Imperial Navy.

After the Mukden Incident in 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army inherited approximately 60,000 troops of Marshal Zhang Xueliang's 160,000 strong Northeastern Army, who had defected to the Japanese with their generals. The Manchukuo Imperial Army was formed from these forces after the establishment of the state of Manchukuo in March 1932. They were initially armed from the captured equipment and arsenals of the Northeastern Army.

As many of the men were inexperienced recruits or irregular forces, and many were opium addicts, they were not of the highest grade in combat ability. Furthermore, many were simply mercenaries willing to fight for the side with the highest pay, and consequently the reliability, if not the loyalty, of many units of the early Manchukuo Imperial Army was questionable.