Rensuke Isogai

Infobox Military Person
name= Rensuke Isogai
lived= 3 September 1886 - 6 June 1967
placeofbirth=Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath=


caption=General Rensuke Isogai
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1904 -1945
rank=General
commands=IJA 10th Division, Kwangtung Army
unit=
battles= Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
awards=
alma_mater=Army War College (Japan)
family=
laterwork=Governor of Hong Kongnihongo|Rensuke Isogai|磯谷廉介| Isogai Rensuke|extra= 3 September 1886 - 6 June 1967 was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation from 20 February 1942 to 24 December 1944.

Biography

Early career

A native of Hyogo prefecture, Isogai graduated from the 16th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1904. Future generals Seishiro Itagaki and Doihara Kenji were among his classmates. He graduated from the 27th class of the Army War College (Japan) and was known for his fascination with all things Chinese.

In 1928, Isogai was attached to the IJA 3rd Division. He was given command of the IJA 7th Infantry Regiment from 1928-1930, and became Chief of Staff of the IJA 1st Division in 1930. [Ammentorp, The Generals of World War II]

From 1931-1937, he held a number of staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff; however, with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Isogai volunteered to be a military attaché to China. The position was very short, as he was soon assigned to a combat command as the commander in chief of the IJA 10th Division in China, participating in the Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation and the Battle of Taierzhuang.

In 1938, Isogai was transferred to Manchukuo as Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army shortly before the disastrous Nomonhan Incident. He was recalled to Japan, and forced into retirement in 1939. [Coox, Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939]

Head of Occupying Forces in Hong Kong

With the start of the Pacific War, Isogai was recalled to active duty in 1942. He was appointed Governor-General of Japanese-occupied Hong Kong on 20 February 1942 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, his former superior officer while serving with the Kwangtung Army.

During Isogai's tenure, Hong Kong was subjected to martial law. He based his command post at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. Although Isogai arrived after the worst excesses committed by Japanese troops against civilians during the conquest of Hong Kong, and Isogai's troops (for the most part) were more disciplined than most Japanese forces in mainland China, Hongkongers suffered much deprivation from food shortages. The creation and subsequent inflation of the Japanese Military Yen, a currency without reserves issued by the Japanese Imperial Army administration, caused severe disruption of the economy, directly destituting many Hong Kong residents. Public transportation and utilities unavoidably failed, due to shortage of fuel and American air raids killed thousands, leaving more homeless. [Snow, The Fall of Hong Kong]

While Isogai was much hated by many older generations of Hong Kong people, Isogai is credited with introducing an important element of Hong Kong life during his tenure: Sunday horseracing. Sunday horseracing is now a very important part of Hong Kong culture, in which thousands participate. Also, Isogai was responsible for the addition of Japanese elements of architecture on the facade of the Hong Kong Government House.

Isogai retired from the post on 24 December 1944, and returned to Japan. At the end of the war, he was arrested by the SCAP authorities and extradited to Nanjing, China, where he faced a military tribunal for war crimes committed during the occupation of Hong Kong. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but released in 1952, and allowed to return to Japan: he died in 1967. [ Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

ee also

* Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong

Books

*cite book
last = Coox
first = Alvin D
coauthors =
year = 1990
title = Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939
publisher = Stanford University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0804718350
*cite book
last = Snow
first = Philip
coauthors =
year = 2004
title = The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation
publisher = Yale University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0300103735

References

External links

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Isogai/Rensuke/Japan.html
title = Isogai Rensuke
work = The Generals of World War II