Takeo Yasuda

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Takeo Yasuda (1889-1964) was a Japanese military officer who, while serving as director of the Aviation Technology Research Institute during World War II, was a key figure in scientific and technological development for the Imperial Japanese Army, most notably his involvement in the early development of the Japanese atom bomb during the early stages of the war.

[edit] Biography

A graduate of Tokyo University, he enlisted in the Japanese army and became a chief signal officer in the Kwangtung Army and was later appointed Director of Research Department of the Army Signal School between 1932 and 1934. While assigned to the Ministry of War, he served as Chief of Fortifications Section for Military Affairs and Military Administration Bureau until 1937 when he became attached to Army Aeronautical Technical Research Institute. Initially heading the 2nd Bureau, he was also Head of Field Aviation Ordnance at the Japanese Imperial Headquarters before returning to the Institute as director of Army Aeronautical Technical Research by the end of the year. [1]

During the late-1930s, he became interested in nuclear physics specifically the potential for large energy releases through nuclear fission. In April 1940, by then a young army officer rising through the ranks, Lieutenant General Yasuda ordered Lieutenant Colonel Tatsusaburo Suzuki to prepare a report on the possibilities of developing an atomic weapon. Receiving a favorible report in December, Yasuda passed on this information to the Japanese Physical and Chemical Research Institute who in turn assigned the project to nuclear physicist Yoshio Nishina. [2] [3] [4]

Between 1942 and 1944, he was commander of the Tokyo-based IJN 1st Air Army, head of the Army Aeronautical Department and inspector-general of Army Aviation before being relieved of duty in April 1944. Serving as a member of the Supreme War Council during the final years of the war, Yasuda also returned to command of the IJN 1st Air Army however he retired shortly before the war's end. [1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Ammentorp, Steen (2000). Biography of Lieutenant-General Takeo Yasuda. Generals.dk.
  2. ^ Wittner, Lawrence S. The Struggle Against the Bomb: Resisting the Bomb : A History of the World Nuclear Disarmerment Movement Through 1953. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1993. (pg. 15) ISBN 0-8047-2141-6
  3. ^ Schneider, Barry R. Radical Responses to Radical Regimes: Evaluating Preemptive Counter-Proliferation. McNair Paper No. 41. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, May 1995. (pg. 11)
  4. ^ Schneider, Barry R. Future War and Counterproliferation: U.S. Military Responses to NBC Proliferation Threats. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. (pg. 150) ISBN 0-275-96278-4
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