In response to the Allied landings on Guadalcanal , the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters assigned the Imperial Japanese Army 's 17th Army — a corps @-@ sized command based at Rabaul ( 4 ° 11 ′ 56 ″ S 152 ° 9 ′ 57 ″ E ) and under the command of Lieutenant @-@ General Harukichi Hyakutake — with the task of retaking Guadalcanal from Allied forces . The 17th Army — heavily involved with the Japanese campaign in New Guinea — had only a few units available to send to the southern Solomons area . Of these units , the 35th Infantry Brigade — under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi — was at Palau , the 4th ( Aoba ) Infantry Regiment was in the Philippines and the 28th ( Ichiki ) Infantry Regiment — under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki — was embarked on transport ships near Guam . The different units began to move toward Guadalcanal immediately ; Ichiki 's regiment — the closest — arrived first . The " First Element " of Ichiki 's unit — consisting of about 917 soldiers — landed from destroyers at Taivu Point ( 9 ° 24 ′ 38 ″ S 160 ° 20 ′ 56 ″ E ) , about 18 mi ( 29 km ) east of the Lunga perimeter , on August 19 .