Yoshijirō Umezu

Infobox Military Person
name=Yoshijirō Umezu
lived= 4 January 1882 - 8 January 1949
placeofbirth=Ōita Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath= Tokyo, Japan


caption=General Umezu Yoshijirō
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1903 -1945
rank=General
commands=China Garrison Army, IJA 2nd Division, IJA 1st Army, Kwangtung Army
unit=
battles= Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
awards=
family=
laterwork= Chief the Imperial Japanese Army General Staffnihongo|Yoshijiro Umezu|梅津美治郎|Umezu Yoshijirō (4 January 1882 - 8 January 1949) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

Biography

Umezu was born in Oita prefecture. He graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903 and served in the infantry. After graduation at the top of the 23rd class of the Army Staff College, he was sent to Europe for further studies in Germany and Denmark. While in Denmark, he was also a military observor from Japan in World War I. From 1919-1921, he was appointed military attaché to Switzerland. [Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography ]

In the 1920s Umezu was a member of the "Toseiha" led by General Kazushige Ugaki along with Gen Sugiyama, Koiso Kuniaki, Tetsuzan Nagata and Hideki Tojo. They represented a politically moderate line between the armed forces, in opposition to the radical "Kodaha" movement guided by Sadao Araki. He served as an instructor at the Army Staff College from 1923-1924, and was commander of the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment from 1924-1926.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Umezu held a number of staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He was promoted to major general in August 1930. Umezu returned to the field as a lieutenant general and commander of the Japanese China Garrison Army from 1934-1935 and as commander of the IJA 2nd Division from 1935-1936. [Ammenthorp, the Generals of World War II ]

Recalled to Japan in 1936, he was appointed Vice Minster of War from 1936-1938. He returned to China in 1938 as commander in chief of the IJA 1st Army, and subsequently commander in chief of the Kwangtung Army from 1939-1944. He was promoted to full general in August 1939. [Budge, Pacific War Online Encyclopedia]

In July 1944, Umezu became the final Chief the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and a member of the Supreme War Council. Along with War Minister Korechika Anami and Soemu Toyoda, Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, Umezu opposed surrender in August 1945; he believed that the military should fight on, forcing the Allies to sustain such heavy losses in an invasion of Japan, that Japan negotiate for peace under better terms. He was aware of the planned coup d’etat by junior officers opposed to the surrender, but did nothing to either aid or hinder it. [ Butow, Japan's Decision to Surrender ] He was personally ordered by Emperor Hirohito sign the instrument of surrender on behalf of the armed forces on 2 September 1945 and was thus the Army's senior representative during the surrender ceremonies on the battleship USS "Missouri" at the end of World War II. [Shokan, Hirohito's Samurai ]

After the war, he was arrested by the SCAP authorities and tried as a war criminal at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. He was found guilty of counts 1, 27, 29, 31 and 32 of waging a war of aggression and sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 November 1948. [ Maga, Judgement at Tokyo ] While in prison, he became a convert to Christianity. Umezu died from rectal cancer in prison in 1949.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Butow
first = Robert J. C.
authorlink =
year = 1954
title = Japan's Decision to Surrender
publisher = Stanford University Press
location =
id = ASIN: B000VFCC14
*cite book
last = Dupuy
first = Trevor N.
year = 1992
title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography
publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 1-85043-569-3
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard B.
authorlink =
year = 1999
title = Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
publisher = Penguin, non-classics
location =
id = ISBN 0141001461
*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
coauthors =
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armor
location = London
id = ISBN: 1-85409-151-4
*cite book
last = Hayashi
first = Saburo
coauthors = Cox, Alvin D
year = 1959
title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War
publisher = The Marine Corps Association.
location = Quantico, VA
id =
*cite book
last = Maga
first = Timothy P.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2001
title = Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials
publisher = University Press of Kentucky
location =
id = ISBN 0-8131-2177-9

External links

* [http://www.ussmissouri.com/surrender/umezu.htm USS Missouri]
*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Umezu/Yoshijiro/Japan.html
title = Umezu, Yoshijiro
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Umezu, Yoshijiro
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
*cite web
last = Clancy
first = Patrick
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-10.html
title = HyperWar:IMTFE Judgement
work = HyperWar Foundation

Notes