Heisuke Yanagawa
Heisuke Yanagawa | |
|---|---|
Lieutenant General | |
| Commands held | IJA 1st Division, Taiwan Army, IJA 10th Army |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Rising Sun Order of the Golden Kite Order of the Sacred Treasure |
| Alma mater | Imperial Japanese Army Academy Army War College (Japan) |
| Other work | Minister of Justice Vice-Minister of War |
Heisuke Yanagawa (柳川 平助, Yanagawa Heisuke, October 2, 1879 – January 22, 1945) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Japanese forces under Yanagawa's command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.
Biography
Born in what is now part of
Around this time, he became involved in internal politics within the Japanese Army, and joined the
From 1923 to 1925, Yanagawa was a cavalry officer, and rose steadily through the ranks from commanding the IJA 20th Cavalry Regiment in 1923, the IJA 1st Cavalry Brigade by 1927, the Cavalry School from 1929, to Inspector-General of Cavalry in 1930. He was promoted to lieutenant general in December 1931.
From 1932 to 1934, Yanagawa served as
However, with the
Yanagawa led his troops in pursuit of Chinese forces fleeing from the Shanghai area, and was in command of one of the main Japanese columns at the Battle of Nanking. His troops were later implicated in the Nanjing Massacre, but Yanagawa was repelled by the events.[3]
Yanagawa retired again from active military service in 1938, becoming Chief of the General Affairs Bureau,
Yanagawa was a supporter of
In a 1985 interview of Yoshinaga Sunao who was a Staff Officer of the Japanese 10th Army, Sunao described Yanagawa as a "Great man who had his deepest respect" as well as a "Reticent and quiet hero". Further into the interview, it was stated by Sunao that Yanagawa loved China and while on the road to Nanjing, he personally said to his Staff officers that it wasn't desirable for Japan and China to have to fight each other, however, as a soldier, he felt it was still his duty to fight and as such readily marched on Nanjing.[4]
References
- ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
- ^ Ammenthorp, Steen. "Yanagawa Heisuke". The Generals of World War II.
- ISBN 0-14-027744-7.
- ^ Ken'ichi, Ara. The Nanjing Incident: Japanese Eyewitness Accounts - Testimony from 48 Japanese Who Were There
Further reading
- Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937–41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.
- Tanaka, Masaaki (1998). What Really Happened in Nanking. Sekai Shuppan. ISBN 4-916079-07-8.
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