Shigeyoshi Inoue

Infobox Military Person
name= Inoue Shigeyoshi
lived=9 December 1889 - 15 December 1975 [ [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/px37.htm#a001 nishida, "Imperial Japanse navy"] ]
placeofbirth=Sendai, Miyagi Japan
placeofdeath=Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan


caption= Japanese admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=navy|Empire of Japan
serviceyears=1909-1945
rank=Admiral
commands="Yodo","Hiei" IJN Aviation Bureau Japanese Fourth Fleet Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
unit=
battles=World War II - Battle of the Coral Sea
awards= Order of the Rising Sun (1st class)
family=
laterwork=Vice Minister of the Navynihongo|Shigeyoshi Inoue|井上成美|Inoue Shigeyoshi|extra=9 December 1889 - 15 December 1975 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was commander of the Japanese Fourth Fleet and later served as Vice-Minister of the Navy. General (Prime Minister) Abe Nobuyuki was his brother-in-law.

Biography

Early career

Inoue was a native of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, in the Tohoku region of Japan. He attended the 37th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, graduating 2nd out of a class of 179 cadets in 1909. As a midshipman, he was assigned to the "Soya" on its 1909 cruise from Dairen to Chemulpo, Chinkai, Sasebo and Tsu. He stayed with "Soya" on its cruise the following year to Manila, Ambon, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Fremantle, Batavia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Makung, and Keelung. On his return, he was assigned to the "Mikasa", and then "Kasuga".

Overseas experience

Shortly after his promotion to ensign on 15 December 1910, he was reassigned to "Kurama" and attended the coronation ceremonies for King George V in London in 1911. In 1912, he returned to school to study latest naval artillery and submarine warfare techniques and was promoted to sub-lieutenant at the end of that year. In 1913, he served on the "Takachiho", followed by the "Hiei". He was promoted to lieutenant at the end of 1915, and transferred to the "Fusō". Although "Fusō" participated in operations in World War I against the Imperial German Navy, Inoue was not in any combat situations.

Inoue was given his first command, the dispatch vessel "Yodo" on 1 December 1917.

At the end of 1918, Inoue was appointed military attaché to Switzerland, and ordered by the Navy to learn German. In 1919, he was part of the Japanese diplomatic delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, where this knowledge proved to be useful. In 1920, he was appointed military attaché to France, and was then ordered to learn French. In December 1921, he received a promotion to lieutenant commander, and was permitted to return to Japan.

After serving as executive officer on the "Suma" in 1923, Inoue enrolled in the Naval War College (Japan), graduating 3rd in a class of 21 the following year from the 22nd class. On 1 December 1925, he was promoted to commander. Inoue remained in staff positions for the next several years, including an appointment as naval attaché to Italy from 1927-1929, after which he was promoted to captain.

As admiral

On 15 November 1933, he was given command of the "Hiei". However, his administrative talents could not be overlooked, and he returned to shore duties after slightly over a year and a half. Inoue was a protégé of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, and was strongly opposed to the Tripartite Pact with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Inoue was a leader of the “leftist clique” within the Japanese military, which opposed Japan's increasing trend towards fascism and overseas expansionism.

Promoted to rear admiral on 15 November 1935, he was made vice commander of the IJN Third Fleet, which covered the China theater of operations in 1939 and further promoted to vice admiral the same year. As with Yamamoto, he was a strong proponent of naval aviation. Inoue was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (first class) in 1940.

In 1940, Inoue became commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau, and submitted his thesis for a radical restructuring of the Imperial Japanese Navy to Naval Minister Koshirō Oikawa early in 1941. Inoue was given command of the IJN Fourth Fleet later the same year. In 1942, he became commander of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. He became Vice Minister of the Navy in the closing stages of World War II, was promoted to full admiral on 15 May 1945, and officially retired on 15 October of the same year.

After the war, Inoue became an English and music teacher to children at his house in Yokosuka. The site of his home is now a public park.

His grave is at Tama Reien Cemetery in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Agawa
first = Hiroyuki
authorlink =
year = 1994
title = 井上成美(Inoue Shigeyoshi)
publisher = Shinchosha
location = Japan
id = ISBN 4-10-300414-2
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*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 = Fukukawa
first = Hideki
year = 2000
title = 日本海軍将官辞典(Nihonkaigun syoukan jiten)
publisher = Fuyoshobo Press
location = Japan
id = ISBN 4-8295-0272-X
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
year = 1949 (reissue 2001)
title = Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942-August 1942, "vol. 4 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = University of Illinois Press
location = Champaign, Illinois, USA
id = ISBN 0-252-06995-1
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943", vol. 5 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
location = Boston
id = ISBN 0-316-58305-7 Online views of selections of the book: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0785813063]

External links

*cite web
last = Naval History via Flix
first =
url = http://navalhistory.flixco.info/G/176788x19846(a5557z1naZShigeyoshi%20Inoue)/259869/j0.htm
title = Inouye Shigeyoshi
format =
work =
accessdate = 2006-12-08
*cite web
last = Nishida
first = Hiroshi
url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px37.htm#a001
title = Materials of IJN: Inoue, Shigeyoshi
format =
work = Imperial Japanese Navy
accessdate = 2006-12-08
*cite web
last = U.S. Army Center of Military History
first =
url = http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm#contents
title = Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, Volume II - Part I
format =
work = Reports of General MacArthur
accessdate = 2006-12-08- Translation of the official record by the Japanese Demobilization Bureaux detailing the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy's participation in the Southwest Pacific area of the Pacific War.
*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php
title = Axis History Factbook
accessdate = 2006-12-08
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6133992 Find-A-Grave]
* [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~un3k-mn/ren-inoue.htm 井上成美] ja icon

Notes