IJA GENERAL SEISHIRO ITAGAKI (JANUARY 21, 1885 TO DECEMBER 23, 1948)

On this date, September 12, 1945, IJA General Seishirō Itagaki surrendered Japanese forces in Southeast Asia to British Admiral Louis Mountbatten in Singapore. I will post information about this Japanese General from Wikipedia.

General Seishirō Itagaki (板垣 征四郎 Itagaki Seishirō)

Native name	板垣 征四郎
Born	21 January 1885 Morioka, Iwate, Japan
Died	23 December 1948 (aged 63) executed by hanging Sugamo Prison, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1904–1945
Rank	General
Commands held	5th Division Japanese Korean Army Seventh Area Army
Battles/wars	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Other work	Minister of War

Seishirō Itagaki (板垣 征四郎 Itagaki Seishirō, 21 January 1885 – 23 December 1948) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and a War Minister. Convicted of war crimes, he was executed in 1948.

Overview

Itagaki was born in Morioka city, Iwate prefecture into a samurai class family formerly serving the Nanbu clan of Morioka Domain. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1904. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905.

From 1924-1926, Itagaki was a military attaché assigned to the Japanese embassy in China. On his return to Japan, he held a number of staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during 1926–1927 before being given a field command as commanding officer of the IJA 33rd Infantry Brigade based in China. His brigade was attached to the IJA 10th Division from 1927–1928. Itagaki was then transferred to command the IJA 33rd Infantry Regiment in China from 1928–1929, under the aegis of the Kwantung Army.

Itagaki rose to become Chief of the Intelligence Section of the Kwantung Army from 1931, in which capacity he helped plan the 1931 Mukden Incident that led to the Japanese seizure of Manchuria. He was subsequently a military advisor to Manchukuo from 1932–1934.

Itagaki became Vice Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army from 1934, and Chief of Staff in 1936.

From 1937 to 1938 Itagaki was commander of the IJA 5th Division in China during the early part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. His Division took a leading part in the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin, Operation Chahar, and the Battle of Taiyuan. However in the Battle of Xuzhou his forces were repulsed during the Battle of Taierzhuang in the vicinity of Linyi that prevented them from coming to the aid of Rensuke Isogai's IJA 10th Division.

Recalled to Japan in 1938, Itagaki briefly served as War Minister from 1938-1939. On December 6, 1938, Itagaki proposed a national policy in accordance with Hakko Ichiu at the Five Ministers Conference, which was the Japanese highest decision making council, and the council made a decision of prohibiting the expulsion of the Jews in Japan, Manchuria, and China as Japanese national policy. 

Itagaki returned to China again as chief of staff of the China Expeditionary Army from 1939-1941. However, the defeat of Japanese forces against the Soviet Red Army at Nomonhan in the summer of 1939 was a major blow to his career, and he was reassigned to command the Chosen Army in Korea, then considered a backwater post.

As the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, the Chosen Army was elevated to the Japanese Seventeenth Area Army in 1945, with Itagaki still as commander in chief. He was then reassigned to the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaya in April 1945. He surrendered Japanese forces in Southeast Asia to British Admiral Louis Mountbatten in Singapore on 12 September 1945.

After the war, he was taken into custody by the SCAP authorities and charged with war crimes, specifically in connection with the Japanese seizure of Manchuria, his escalation of the war against the Allies during his term as War Minister, and for allowing inhumane treatment of prisoners of war during his term as commander of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. He was found guilty on counts 1, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36 and 54 and was condemned to death in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Itagaki was hanged on 23 December 1948 at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo.

Inaugural Party for the newly appointed War Minister Seoshirō Itagaki (1885–1948, center right). Among the guests were Naval Minister Mitsumasa Yonai (1880–48, center left) and Vice War Minister Hideki Tōjō (1884–1948, to the right of Itagaki).

INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Seishir%C5%8D_Itagaki

Seishirō Itagaki (January 21, 1885 – December 23, 1948) was general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and a War Minister. He surrendered Japanese forces in Southeast Asia to British General Louis Montbatten in Singapore on 12 September 1945. After the war, he was taken into custody by the SCAP authorities and charged with war crimes, specifically in connection with the Japanese seizure of Manchuria, his escalation of the war against the Allies during his term as War Minister, and for allowing inhumane treatment of prisoners of war during his term as commander of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. He was found guilty and condemned to death in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Itagaki was hanged on December 21, 1948 at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo.

Sourced

• Now that the Emperor has accepted the Potsdam Declaration, we must lay down our arms. Obeying the Emperor's order, we shall not fight. We must keep peace and order and we shall not make any trouble.
• Quoted in "Red Star Over Malaya" - Page 130 - by Boon Kheng Cheah - History - 2003

• I am convinced that in times such as these, every man must be a soldier, in substance as well as in name.
• Quoted in "The Fight for the Pacific" - Page 157 - by Mark Gayn - 1941

• The conflict between Japan and Chiang is little affected by the fall of the Wuhan cities and Sino-Japanese hostilities have just started.
• Quoted in "Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific" - Page 1 - by University of British Columbia - Pan-Pacific relations

• It is a place rich in natural resources, having everything we need for national defense, a crucial place for the empire's self-reliance. The place is crucial too for our wars with China, Russia, and the U.S.
• About sending troops to China's northeast. March 1931, from speech entitled "Manchuria and Mongolia from the Military Point of View". Quoted in "China in the World Anti-Fascist War" by Peng Xunhou - Page 23 - 2005

• We hope the peace will last for twenty years. Then we will be here again.
• To the Sultan of Johore. Quoted in "Key to Japan" - Page 289 - by Willard Price - 1946

• The war will continue a long time. Chiang Kai-shek may attempt to continue hostilities throughout his ifetime and as long as Chiang continues, Japan must continue.
• Quoted in "Time" - by Briton Hadden, Henry Robinson Luce - Australia - 1923 - Page 29

• The Chinese courts have tried many Japanese officers for their crimes against the Chinese. These men committed thousands of crimes against Koreans. They killed and persecuted thousands of our people for refusing to help the Japanese war effort. They forced Koreans into the coal mines as slave laborers and let them die of tuberculosis and neglect.
• Quoted in "Korea would Try 2 Japanese Chiefs" from "New York Times" article - November 30, 1948

• I am convinced of the necessity to take an effective measure of self defense.
• Quoted in "Oakland Tribune (Newspaper)" - February 21, 1939, Oakland, California

OTHER LINKS:

http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=648

http://www.trial-ch.org/en/ressources/trial-watch/trial-watch/profils/profile/73/action/show/controller/Profile.html

http://lib.law.virginia.edu/imtfe/person/148

http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/I/t/Itagaki_Seishiro.htm