Yasuji Okamura

Infobox Military Person
name=Yasuji Okamura
lived=15 May 1884 - 2 September 1966
placeofbirth=Tokyo, Japan
placeofdeath=Tokyo, Japan


caption=Yasuji Okamura
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1905 - 1945
rank=General
commands=China Expeditionary Army
Japanese Northern China Area Army
unit=
battles=Russo-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
awards=Order of the Golden Kite

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
relations=
laterwork=nihongo|Yasuji Okamura|岡村 寧次|Okamura Yasuji|extra= 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.

Biography

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. [Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia ]

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. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

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. [Chen, World War II Database ] According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, Okamura was authorized by emperor Showa to use chemical weapons during those battles. [Yoshimi and Matsuno, "Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryô II" (Material on Toxic Gas Warfare), Kaisetsu, 1997, p.25-29] .

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. [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]

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. [Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia ]

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.

Postwar life

After the war was over, Okamura was retained as a military advisor for the Kuomintang (KMT). He was not charged with any war crimes by the personal order of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. [Budge, [http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm] Pacific War Online Encyclopedia] Okamura returned to Japan in 1949 and died in 1966.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Bix
first = Herbert B.
year = 2001
title = Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
publisher = Harper Perennial
location =
id = ISBN 0060931302
*cite book
last = Dupuy
first = Trevor N.
year = 1992
title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography
publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 1-85043-569-3
*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/Okamura/Yasuji/Japan.html
title = Okamura, Yasuji
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Okamura Yatsutsuga
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
url = http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=301&list=Ground
title = Yasuji Okamura
work = WW2 Database

Notes