Shizuichi Tanaka

Infobox Military Person
name=Shizuichi Tanaka
lived= 1 October 1887 – 24 August 1945
placeofbirth=Hyōgo prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath= Tokyo, Japan


caption=General Shizuichi Tanaka in a Showa 5 type or M90 uniform and bearing the epaulette of lieutenant-general. Thus, this photo was likely taken between July 1938 and Sep 1943
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1905 -1945
rank=General
commands=
unit=
battles= Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
awards=
family=
laterwork=

nihongo|Shizuichi Tanaka|田中静壱|Tanaka Shizuichi|extra=1 October 1887 – 24 August 1945 was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, who, at the end of World War II, the commander of the Eastern District Army, which covered the Tokyo-Yokohama area.

Biography

A native of Hyōgo prefecture, Tanaka graduated from the 19th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and 28th class of the Army Staff College. He then went on to earn a degree in English literature at Oxford University where he studied the works of William Shakespeare. He led the Japanese troops in London's victory parade at the end of World War I.

From 1930-1932, he was commander of the IJA 2nd Infantry Regiment. Tanaka was subsequently posted as a military attaché to Washington D.C., where he met Douglas MacArthur while MacArthur was Chief of Staff of the United States Army. As a result of his long service in the United States and United Kingdom, and his openly pro-western sentiments he was passed over for promotions as Japan militarized. From 1934-1935, Tanaka was Chief of Staff of the IJA 4th Division. [Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia]

With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tanaka was assigned to the IJA 5th Infantry Brigade, and was at the 1938 Battle of Wuhan. He was recalled to Japan shortly thereafter and appointed head of the "Kempeitai," in the Kantō region. He returned to China as commander of the IJA 13th Division from 1939-1940.

At the start of the Pacific War, Tanaka was commander in Chief of the Eastern Army District, and was later assigned administrative positions within the General Staff. He was vocal in his opposition to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

, was assigned to head the Eastern District Army. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

As acting commander of the 1st Imperial Guards Division, his cooperation crucial to the 15 August 1945 rebellion planned by Major Kenji Hatanaka and others. Hatanaka sought to occupy the Imperial Palace, and to prevent the Emperor's announcement of Japan's surrender from being broadcast. When Tanaka was asked to join the rebellion, he refused, and later mobilized the Eastern District Army against the "coup". After making a number of phone calls, and ordering troops to relieve the Palace, he drove there himself and berated Hatanaka and the other conspirators. [Brooks, Behind Japan's Surrender]

Despite being called 'the hero of the August 15 incident', and being almost singularly responsible for bringing an end to the attempted coup-de-etat, Tanaka felt responsible for the damage done to Tokyo (his jurisdiction) by Allied bombing. Since his assignment on 19 March, he had attempted to resign three times, after he failed to prevent damage to Meiji Shrine, the Imperial Palace, and other important sites, but his resignations were refused. After the war, Tanaka told his subordinates to destroy the unit colors, but not to commit suicide; burning the regiment's banners would be enough payment. Tanaka intended to commit suicide himself, on behalf of all his men.

On 24 August, at his office in Tokyo's Dai Ichi building, he shot himself through the heart; he left his desk covered in sutras, letters to his officers and his family, a statue of Emperor Meiji and a scroll bearing Emperor Hirohito's words to him following the August 15th incident. [Chen, WW2 Data Base]

References

Books

*cite book
last = Brooks
first = Lester
coauthors =
year = 1968
title = Behind Japan's Surrender: The Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire
publisher = McGraw-Hill Book Company
location = New York
id =
*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 =

External links

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url =http://www.generals.dk/general/Tanaka/Shizuichi/Japan.html
title = Tanaka, Shizuichi
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Tanaka Shizuichi
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
url = http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=372&list=Ground
title = Chen, Peter
work = WW2 Database

Notes