- Seishirō Itagaki
Infobox Military Person
name= Seishirō Itagaki
lived=21 January 1885 –23 December 1948
placeofbirth=Morioka, Iwate ,Japan
placeofdeath=Tokyo ,Japan
caption=General Seishirō Itagaki
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1905 -1945
rank=General
commands=Kwangtung Army,IJA 5th Division , Chosen Army, 7th Area Army
unit=
battles=Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
awards=
family=
laterwork=Minster of Warnihongo|Seishirō Itagaki|板垣 征四郎|Itagaki Seishirō|extra=21 January 1885 –23 December 1948 was general in theImperial Japanese Army inWorld War II and a War Minister.Biography
Itagaki was born in Morioka city,
Iwate prefecture into a "samurai " class family formerly serving theNanbu clan ofMorioka han . He graduated from theImperial Japanese Army Academy in 1904. He fought in theRusso-Japanese War in 1904-05.From 1924-1926, Itagaki was a
military 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 during 1926-192 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 1927-1928. Itagaki was then transferred to command the IJA 33rd Infantry Regiment in China from 1928-1929, under the aegis of theKwantung 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 ofManchuria . [Budge, the Pacific War Online Encyclopedia] He was subsequently a military advisor toManchukuo from 1932-1934.Itagaki became Vice Chief of Staff of the
Kwantung Army from 1934, and Chief of Staff in 1936. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]From 1937 to 1938 Itagaki was commander of the
IJA 5th Division in China during the early part of theSecond Sino-Japanese War . 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 . [Fuller, Shokan, Hirohito's Samurai] Recalled to Japan in 1938, he briefly served as War Minister from 1938-1939. He returned to China again as chief of staff of theChina Expeditionary Army from 1939-1941. However, the defeat of Japanese forces against the SovietRed Army at Nomonhan in the summer of 1939 was a major blow to his career, and he was reassigned to command theChosen Army inKorea , then considered a backwater post. However, as the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, the Chosen Army was elevated to the Japanese 17th Area Army in 1945, with Itagaki still ascommander in chief . He was then reassigned to theJapanese Seventh Area Army inSingapore and Malaya in April 1945. He surrendered Japanese forces inSoutheast Asia to British General Louis Montbatten in Singapore on12 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 ofprisoners 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 theInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East . Itagaki was hanged on21 December 1948 atSugamo Prison , Tokyo. [Maga, Judgement at Tokyo ]References
Books
*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 = Maga
first = Timothy P.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2001
chapter =
title = Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials
publisher = University Press of Kentucky
location =
id = ISBN 0-8131-2177-9External links
*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Itagaki/Seishiro/Japan.html
title = Itagaki Seishiro
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Itagaki Seishiro
work = Pacific War Online EncyclopediaNotes
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