Yukio Kasahara

Infobox Military Person
name=Yukio Kasahara
lived= 6 November 1889 - 2 January 1988
placeofbirth=Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption=General Yukio Kasahara
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1913 -1945
rank=Lieutenant General
commands=IJA 12th Division, IJA 11th Army
unit=
battles= Second Sino-Japanese War
awards=
family=
laterwork=nihongo|Yukio Kasahara|笠原幸雄|Kasahara Yukio|extra= 6 November 1889 - 2 January, 1988 was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Biography

Kasahara was born into a military family in Sendai, but attended the First Tokyo Middle School as a youth. He graduated from the 22nd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1913, and from the 22nd class of the Army Staff College in November 1918.

Kasahara was sent as a military attaché to Moscow, Russia from 1929-1932, and became fluent in the Russian language. On his return to Japan, he was assigned to the Soviet Branch of the 4th Section (European & American Military Intelligence), 2nd Bureau, of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

From 1933-1934, he became an instructor at the Cavalry School, and was subsequently appointed commander of the Imperial Guards Cavalry Regiment from 1934-1936.

Kasahara returned to the 2nd Bureau of the General Staff in 1936 as Chief of the 4th Section, 5th Section and 6th Section, covering all of the European, American and Russian Intelligence. He was a major proponent of the "hokushin-ron" philosophy, feeling strongly that the Soviet Union posed a major threat and a major opportunity for Japan.

From 1937-1938, Kasahara was sent to Manchukuo as Vice Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army. He visited Germany as part of a military mission in 1938 after the conclusion of the Tripartite Alliance, and returned to the General Staff on his return to Japan.

However, Kasahara was soon dispatched back to China. From 1939-1941, he served as Chief of Staff of the Northern China Area Army. He was then promoted to commander in chief of the IJA 12th Division from 1941-1942.

For most the remainder of the war (1942-1945), Kasahara served as Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army. However, in April 1945, he was appointed to replace General Yoshio Uetsuki as commander of the IJA 11th Army, and thus participated in the Operation Ichigo offensive, notably at the Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou. [Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia]

References

Books

*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 = Hsu
first = Long-hsuen
coauthors = Chang Ming-kai
year = 1971
title = History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) 2nd Ed
publisher = Chung Wu Publishing.
location = Taipei, Taiwan
id =

External links

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Kasahara/Yukio/Japan.html
title = Kasahara Yukio
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Kasahata Yukio
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

Notes