Dai-gensui

Dai-gensui (grand marshal; literally "great marshal" (大元帥^?)) was the highest rank of the Greater Imperial Japanese Army from the 1870s to 1945, when the Empire of Japan was dissolved. Equivalent to the rank of a generalissimo or general of the armies (a six-star rank), and senior to the rank of gensui ("marshal"), the rank formally became obsolete in 1947 when the Imperial Japanese Army was abolished. The rank of dai-gensui was only ever held by the Emperor of Japan as commander-in-chief of the Empire.

List of dai-gensui

The holders of this rank were:

Holder	Lifetime	Time in rank	Notes
Meiji Tenno	3 November 1852 — 30 July 1912	1868-1912
Taisho Tenno	31 August 1879 — 25 December 1926	1912-1926
Showa Tenno	29 April 1901 — 7 January 1989	1926-1945	Held the rank until 15 August 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allies, rank officially abolished in 1947.

References

• Donald Keene, Emperor of Japan, Meiji and his World 1852-1912