Ryūkichi Tanaka

Infobox Military Person
name= Ryūkichi Tanaka
lived= 28 September 1896 - 24 November 1972
placeofbirth=Shimane prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption=General Ryūkichi Tanaka
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1913 -1945
rank=General
commands=
unit=
battles= Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
awards=
family=
laterwork=nihongo| Ryūkichi Tanaka |田中 隆吉| Tanaka Ryūkichi |extra= 28 September 1896 - 24 November, 1972 was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II

Biography

Tanaka was born in what is now part of Yasugi city, Shimane prefecture, and attended military schools as a youth. He graduated from the 26th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1913, specializing in artillery, and was assigned to serve with the IJA 23rd Field Artillery Regiment based on Okayama. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

After graduating from the 34th class of the Army War College (Japan) in 1923, Tanaka served in various staff positions in the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff , and came into contact with Pan-Asianism theorist and nationalist writer Shumei Okawa. He was sent on special assignment to Beijing and Kalgan from 1927-1929 to gather military intelligence. In October 1930, he was based in Shanghai, where he came into contact with Kawashima Yoshiko, and assisted her in establishing her spy network. He was living with Kawashima in Shanghai at the time of the Shanghai Incident of 1932.

Recalled to Japan in August 1932. Tanaka was appointed commander of the IJA 4th Field Artillery Regiment. He was attached to the IJA 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment from 1934 to 1935, and then attached to the 2nd Section of the Kwantung Army staff from 1935 to 1937. From 1937 to 1939, Tanaka was commanding officer of the 25th Mountain Artillery Regiment in Manchukuo, which was at the disastrous Battle of Lake Khasan.

Recalled to Japan from 1939 to 1940, Tanaka was appointed Chief of the Military Service Section, Military Administration Bureau within the Ministry of War. In March 1940, Tanaka was promoted to major general, and briefly returned to China as Chief of Staff of the Japanese First Army, during which time he initiated the Three Alls Policy and unsuccessful attempted to woo Chinese warlord Yen Hsi-shan of Shanxi Province to support the Japanese cause. [Dorn, The Sino-Japanese War]

At the end of 1940, Tanaka was recalled back to Japan, and the following year became Commandant of the Nakano School, the primary espionage and sabotage training facility for the Japanese army. [ Mercado,The Shadow Warriors of Nakano]

Suffering from poor health, Tanaka went into the reserves until 1942 when he was attached to the Eastern Defense Army, and then retired.

In 1945, Tanaka was recalled and served as Commandant of Ratsu Fortress until the end of the war. During the International Military Tribunal for the Far East after the war, Tanaka testified three times for the prosecution and twice for the defense. He was used by chief prosecutor Joseph Keenan to persuade Hideki Tojo to revise his testimony referring to Emperor Showa's ultimate authority. [John Dower, "Embracing Defeat", 1999, p. 325, 604-605]

He died of colorectal cancer in 1972.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Dorn
first = Frank
coauthors =
year = 1974
title = The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41;: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor
publisher = MacMillan.
location =
id = ISBN: 0025322001
*cite book
last = Dower
first = John W.
coauthors =
year = 1999
title =
publisher = New Press
location = New York
id =
*cite book
last = Mercado
first = Stephen C.
coauthors =
year = 2002
title = The Shadow Warriors of Nakano: A History of the Imperial Japanese Army's Elite Intelligence School
publisher = .
location =
id = ISBN: 1-574-88443-3

External links

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Tanaka/Ryukichi/Japan.html
title = Tanaka Ryukichi
work = The Generals of World War II
* [http://imperialarmy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/general/colonel07/tanaka.html Japanese bio site]

Notes