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Seishirō Itagaki | |
|---|---|
板垣 征四郎 | |
 Itagaki in 1938 | |
| Minister of the Army | |
| In office 3 June 1938 – 30 August 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Hajime Sugiyama |
| Succeeded by | Shunroku Hata |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1885-01-21)21 January 1885 |
| Died | 23 December 1948(1948-12-23) (aged 63) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Alma mater | Imperial Japanese Army Academy |
| Profession | Military |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Branch/service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1904–1945 |
| Rank |  General |
| Commands | |
| Battles/wars | |
GeneralSeishirō Itagaki (板垣 征四郎,Itagaki Seishirō; 21 January 1885 – 23 December 1948) was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as ageneral in theImperial Japanese Army duringWorld War II andWar Minister from 1938 to 1939.
He was a disciple ofKanji Ishiwara and his ideas were strongly influenced by his apocalypticBuddhist beliefs, being firmly convinced of the idea of a "Final War" in which Japan would unite the entire world into a single nation, resulting in an era of true peace, regeneration and harmony.[1]
Itagaki was a main conspirator behind theMukden Incident and held prestigiouschief of staff posts in theKwantung Army andChina Expeditionary Army during the earlySecond Sino–Japanese War. Itagaki became War Minister but fell from grace after Japanese defeat in theSoviet–Japanese border conflicts, serving as general for severalfield armies until surrendering Japanese forces inSoutheast Asia in 1945. Itagaki was convicted ofwar crimes by theInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed in 1948.
Seishirō Itagaki was born on 21 January 1885 inMorioka,Iwate Prefecture, into a formersamurai family that had served theNanbu clan of theMorioka Domain. Itagaki's father, Masanori Itagaki, served as mayor forKesen District and as aheadmaster for agirls school. Itagaki was raised in aNichiren Buddhist family belonging to theNichiren-shū sect. Itagaki attended thejunior high school in Morioka (at the same timeKyōsuke Kindaichi,Koshirō Oikawa, andKodō Nomura) before attending the regionalmilitary school inSendai.
Itagaki entered theImperial Japanese Army Academy, where he befriended numerous notable Japanese military figures includingYasuji Okamura,Kenji Doihara, andTetsuzan Nagata. Itagaki graduated from the Army Academy in 1904 and fought in theRusso–Japanese War. Itagaki married Kikuko Ogoshi, the daughter of his former mentor Kenkichi Ogoshi who died in theBattle of Mukden.
From 1924 to 1926, Itagaki was amilitary attaché assigned to the Japanese embassy inChina. On his return to Japan, he held a number of staff positions within theImperial Japanese Army General Staff until 1927 before being given a field command as commanding officer of the IJA 33rd Infantry Brigade based in China. His brigade was attached to theIJA 10th Division from 1927 to 1928. Itagaki was then transferred to command the IJA 33rd Infantry Regiment in China from 1928 to 1929, under the aegis of the prestigiousKwantung Army.
In 1931, Itagaki rose to become Chief of the Intelligence Section of the Kwantung Army, in which capacity he helped plan theMukden Incident that led to the Japanese seizure ofManchuria.[2] Itagaki was subsequently a military advisor to the Japanesepuppet state ofManchukuo from 1932 to 1934. In 1934, Itagaki became Vice Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, and in 1936 was promoted toChief of Staff.[3] From 1937 to 1938, Itagaki was commander of theIJA 5th Division in China during the early stages of theSecond Sino–Japanese War, and his division took a leading part in theBattle of Beiping–Tianjin,Operation Chahar, and theBattle of Taiyuan. However, in theBattle of Xuzhou his forces were repulsed during theBattle of Taierzhuang in the vicinity ofLinyi that prevented them from coming to the aid ofRensuke Isogai'sIJA 10th Division.[4]
Itagaki was recalled to Japan in 1938, briefly serving asWar Minister from 1938 to 1939. On 6 December 1938, Itagaki proposed a national policy in accordance withHakko Ichiu (Expansion) at the Five Ministers Conference,[5] which was the Japanese highest decision making council,[6][7] and the council made a decision of prohibiting the expulsion of theJews in Japan,Manchuria, and China as Japanese national policy.[6][7] Itagaki returned to China again as chief of staff of theChina Expeditionary Army from 1939 to 1941. However, in the summer of 1939, the unexpected defeat of Japanese forces against theSoviet Union at theBattle of Khalkhin Gol orNomonhan incident, the decisive battle of theSoviet–Japanese border conflicts, was a major blow to his career. On 7 July 1941, Itagaki was reassigned to command theChosen Army inKorea, then considered to be a non-prestigious backwater post. He was able to preventMasanobu Tsuji from being cashiered as theEmperor had wished due to Tsuji's insolence and extremegekokujō during the Nomonhan incident by instead having Tsuji transferred to a research unit atFormosa.[8] While Itagaki was commander of the Chosen Army, Japan began assembling its nuclear weapons program with the industrial site near the Chosen reservoir as its equivalent to the Oak Ridge laboratory for the United States'Manhattan Project.[9] As the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, the Chosen Army was elevated to theJapanese Seventeenth Area Army in 1945, with Itagaki still ascommander in chief until 7 April 1945. Itagaki was then reassigned to theJapanese Seventh Area Army inSingapore andMalaya in April 1945. Itagaki surrendered Japanese forces inSoutheast Asia to British AdmiralLouis Mountbatten in Singapore on 12 September 1945.
After the war, Itagaki was taken into custody by theSupreme Commander of the Allied Powers authorities and charged withwar crimes, specifically in connection with the Japanese seizure of Manchuria, his escalation of the war against theAllies during his term as War Minister, and for allowing inhumane treatment ofprisoners of war during his term as commander of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. Itagaki was found guilty on counts 1, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36 and 54 and was condemned to death in 1948 by theInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East. Itagaki was hanged on 23 December 1948 atSugamo Prison inTokyo.[10]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Army Minister Jun 1938 – Aug 1939 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | IJA 7th Area Army Apr 1945 – Aug 1945 | Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by none | IJA 17th Area Army Feb 1945 – Apr 1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | IJA Chosen Army Jul 1941 – Apr 1945 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
