Kiyotake Kawaguchi

Infobox Military Person
name= Kiyotake Kawaguchi
lived= 3 December 1892 - 16 May 1961
placeofbirth= Kochi prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption=Japanese General Kiyotake Kawaguchi
nickname=
allegiance= Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears= 1914-1945
rank= Major General
commands=
unit=
battles= World War II
*Second Sino-Japanese War
*Battle of the Philippines (1941-42)
*Guadalcanal campaign
*Battle of Edson's Ridge
*Battle for Henderson Field
awards=
laterwork=nihongo|Kiyotake Kawaguchi|川口清健|Kawaguchi Kiyotake|extra= 3 December 1892 - 16 May 1961 was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Biography

A native of Kochi prefecture, Kiyotake graduated from the 26th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1914, and from the 34th class of the Army Staff College in 1922. He spent much of the 1920s and 30s in a series of staff positions in the North China Area Army and in Japan, before his promotion to major general in 1940. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

In 1940, Kawaguchi was appointed commander of the IJA 35th Infantry Brigade under the IJA 18th Division, with responsibility for the invasion and occupation of Malaya, Borneo and the Solomon Islands. Kawaguchi arrived at Borneo in December 1941 and, during the later stages of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, landed at Cebu on March 1942 and Mindanao the following month. As commander of Army forces on Cebu after the invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Kawaguchi objected strenuously to the "revenge killings" of senior Philippine government officials and supreme court justices by Japanese authorities, most notably Japanese Army Colonel Masanobu Tsuji. He argued that, "shooting defeated opponents in cold blood was a violation of the true Bushido." His protests earned him the enmity of Tsuji, who used every opportunity to get Kawaguchi reassigned to combat zones from which he was not likely to return. [Harries, "Soldiers of the Sun", p. 338.]

Kawaguchi and his 35th Infantry Brigade, along with other attached units, were landed as reinforcements on Guadalcanal in August and September 1942 in response to the Allied landings on the island. In the resulting Battle of Edson's Ridge on 13 September 1942, Kawaguchi's forces were defeated with heavy losses and forced to retreat from the battlefield. Kawaguchi was subsequently relieved of command during the Japanese preparations for another attack in October 1942 and evacuated from the island and back to Japan. [ Frank, Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle] Kawaguchi was relegated to the reserve list in 1943. After recovering from a long illness, he was placed in command of the defenses of Tsushima Island in March 1945.

After the war, Kawaguchi was arrested by the SCAP occupation authorities, and was tried and convicted of war crimes. He was imprisoned at Sugamo Prison from 1946 until 1953, which was rather ironic, given his strong opposition to the atrocities ordered by Colonel Masanobu Tsuji. Kawaguchi died in Japan in 1961.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard B. Frank
year = 1990
title = Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-394-58875-4
*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armour Press
location = London
id = ISBN 1854091514
*cite book
last = Harries
first = Meirion
authorlink =
coauthors = Susie Harries
year = 1994
chapter =
title = Soldiers of the Sun : The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-679-75303-6
*cite book
last = Hayashi
first = Saburo
coauthors =
year = 1959
chapter =
title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War
publisher = Marine Corps. Association
location =
id = ASIN B000ID3YRK
*cite book
last = Smith
first = Michael T.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2000
chapter =
title = Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal
publisher = Pocket
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-7434-6321-8

Web

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Kawaguchi/Kiyotake/Japan.html
title = Kawaguchi, Kiyotake
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Kawaguchi Kiyotake
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
*cite web
last = Geocities
first =
url = http://www.geocities.com/dutcheastindies/kawaguchi.html
title = Major-General Kiyotake Kawaguchi
format =
work =
accessdate = 2006-03-19
*cite web
last = Hough
first = Frank O.
authorlink =
coauthors = Ludwig, Verle E., and Shaw, Henry I., Jr.
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/index.html
title = Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal
format =
work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
publisher =
accessdate = 2006-05-16
*cite web
last = Shaw
first = Henry I.
authorlink =
year = 1992
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Guadalcanal/index.html
title = First Offensive: The Marine Campaign For Guadalcanal
work = Marines in World War II Commemorative Series
accessdate = 2006-07-25
*cite web
last = Zimmerman
first = John L.
authorlink =
year = 1949
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Guadalcanal.html
title = The Guadalcanal Campaign
format =
work = Marines in World War II Historical Monograph
publisher =
accessdate = 2006-07-04

Notes