Yasuji Okamura

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Yasuji Okamura
15 May 1884 - 2 September 1966

Yasuji Okamura
Place of birth Tokyo, Japan
Place of death Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service 1905 - 1945
Rank Colonel General
Commands held China Expeditionary Army
North China Expeditionary Force
Battles/wars Russo-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
Awards Order of the Golden Kite

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
In this Japanese name, the family name is Okamura.

Yasuji Okamura (岡村 寧次 Okamura Yasuji?, 15 May 1884 - 2 September 1966) was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, and commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army from November 1944 to the end of World War II.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born in Tokyo, Okamura enrolled in Sakamachi Elementary School and graduated eight years later. In 1897, he entered Waseda University. In 1898, he was transferred to Tokyo Junior Army School, and was transferred to Army Central Junior School later. Okamura entered the 16th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1899 and graduated in 1904. His classmates included the future generals Itagaki Seishiro, Kenji Doihara and Ando Rikichi. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment.

In 1910, Okamura entered the 25th class of the Army War College, and was promoted to captain soon after graduation in 1913. He served in a number of staff positions on the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during and after World War I. He moved briefly to China in the early 1920s, and served as a military advisor to a Chinese warlord. [1]

From 1932 to 1933, Okamura was Vice chief-of-staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army under the aegis of the Kwangtung Army. According to Okamura's own memoirs, he played a role in the recruitment of comfort women from Nagasaki prefecture to serve in military brothels in Shanghai. He also served as military attaché to Manchukuo from 1933-1934.

Okamura was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936, and assigned command of the IJA 2nd Division. [2]

[edit] Second Sino-Japanese War

In 1938, a year after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Okamura was assigned as the commander in chief of the Japanese Eleventh Army, which participated in numerous major engagements in the Second Sino-Japanese War, notably the Battles of Wuhan, Nanchang and Changsha.[3] According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, Okamura was authorized by emperor Showa to use chemical weapons during those battles.[4].

In April 1940, Okamura was promoted to the rank of full general. In July 1941, he was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Northern China Area Army.

In December 1941, Okamura received Imperial General Headquarters Order Number 575 authorizing the implementation of the Three Alls Policy in north China, aimed primarily at breaking the Chinese Red Army. According to historian Mitsuyoshi Himeta, the scorched earth campaign was responsible for the deaths of "more than 2,7 million" Chinese civilians.[5]

In 1944, Okamura was overall commander for the massive and largely successful Operation Ichigo against airfields in southern China, while retaining personal command of the Japanese Sixth Area Army. Few months later, he was appointed the commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army. As late as January 1945, Okamura was still confident of the victory of Japan in China. [6]

With the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, Okamura represented the Imperial Japanese Army] in China Burma India Theater official surrender ceremony held at Nanjing on 9 September 1945.

[edit] Postwar life

After the war was over, Okamura was retained as a military advisor for the Kuomintang. He was not charged with any war crimes by the personal order of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. Okamura returned to Japan in 1949 and died in 1966.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  • Bix, Herbert B. (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0060931302. 
  • Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3. 
  • Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4. 
  • Hayashi, Saburo; Cox, Alvin D (1959). Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Quantico, VA: The Marine Corps Association.. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
  2. ^ Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II
  3. ^ Chen, World War II Database
  4. ^ Yoshimi and Matsuno, Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryô II (Material on Toxic Gas Warfare), Kaisetsu, 1997, p.25-29
  5. ^ Himeta, Mitsuyoshi (姫田光義) (日本軍による『三光政策・三光作戦をめぐって』) (Concerning the Three Alls Strategy/Three Alls Policy By the Japanese Forces), Iwanami Bukkuretto, 1996, Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2000
  6. ^ Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia