Shigenori Kuroda

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Shigenori Kuroda
黒田 重徳
Emperor Hirohito
Preceded byShizuichi Tanaka
Succeeded byTomoyuki Yamashita
Personal details
Born(1887-10-25)October 25, 1887
Lieutenant General
Battles/warsSecond Sino-Japanese War
World War II

Shigenori Kuroda (黒田 重徳, Kuroda Shigenori, October 25, 1887 – April 30, 1952) was a Japanese

Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Governor-General of the Philippines during World War II
.

Biography

Kuroda was born in

British India. In 1937, he was promoted to major general and given command of the IJA 26th Division
.

Battle of Wuyuan

Main article: Battle of Wuyuan

Kuroda commanded the IJA 26th Division in the

1939-40 Winter Offensive, resulted to a Chinese victory and Japanese retreat.[1][2] The Japanese call it 第２次後套作戦 (English:The second battle of Wuyuan). Despite the loss in the battle, the Japanese had a strategic victory for making the Chinese fail their primary objectives.[3]

Pacific War

In 1941, with the start of the

General Otozō Yamada.[5] From July 1, 1942 to May 19, 1943, he was Chief of Staff of the Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group.[6]

Philippines

Jose P. Laurel with Kuroda during the inaugural session of the Second Philippine Republic's National Assembly, October 14, 1943

From May 28, 1943 to September 26, 1944, Kuroda was made military governor of the

Japanese Fourteenth Area Army, which were the merged elements of the Japanese 14th Army, 35th Army and 41st Army, in the Philippines from July 28 to September 26, 1944.[7]

During his rule in the Philippines, a

José P. Laurel,[9] presented its draft Constitution on September 4, 1943 and three days later, the KALIBAPI
general assembly ratified the draft Constitution.

By September 20, 1943, the

National Assembly, the legislature of the country, with fifty-four governors and city mayors as ex officio members.[8]

Three days after establishing the National Assembly, the

Benigno S. Aquino as its first Speaker and José P. Laurel as President of the Republic of the Philippines, who was inaugurated on October 14, 1943 at the foundation of the Republic.[8]

American return and postwar life

By early 1944, the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff anticipated the return of American forces to the Philippines.The weight for preparing against an American landing fell to Kuroda. Kuroda planned to concentrate the bulk of the Japanese forces in Luzon, but his plan was never considered by the Imperial Army General Staff. The staff instead devoted only five of his ten divisions in Luzon, which was said to have no experience in any of the past Japanese campaigns.[10] After being denied of his ideas for the defense of the Philippines, he was accused to have been lax in his duties and was replaced by Tomoyuki Yamashita, his former schoolmate in the Army War College, who was touted as a "superb and excellent tactician",[10] after the fall of his patron Hideki Tojo
from power. Kuroda returned to Japan in disgrace in October 1944 and entered the reserves in December of the same year.

Masaharu Homma (left) and Shigenori Kuroda (center) in U.S custody

After the

Republic of the Philippines during the Manila Trials was and condemned to life imprisonment as a Class B war criminal due to command responsibility for the actions of his troops in the Philippines, for the deaths of nearly 3000 American and Filipino civilians.[11] His lawyer at the time was Lieutenant Colonel Jose Lukban. He disguised Kuroda by putting a mole on his face, and removing that at the end of the trial to discredit the witnesses thrown at the Japanese general.[12] He was pardoned in 1952 by Philippine president Elpidio Quirino and repatriated to Japan, where he died the same year.[13]

Kuroda's chief defense counsel was Pedro A. Serran, Col. USAFFE who was named the "Liberator of Zarraga, Iloilo in Panay Island". Ironically Col. Serran, as a commissioned officer and practicing Lawyer, fought the Japanese in combat as a Captain. Leading attacks against the Japanese garrisons and collecting intelligence for the US military's return. A professional lawyer believing in democracy and due process, he became the chief attorney who represented Kuroda in his defense. Col. Serran was anti-corruption and became a US citizen after the war, he died at age 86 in the San Francisco bay area.[14][15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ George Barry O'Toole, Jên-yü Tsʻai, ed. (1941). The China monthly, Volumes 3-5. The China monthly incorporated. Retrieved 2010-06-28.(Original from the University of Michigan)
  2. ISBN 978-0-913418-03-1
    . Retrieved 2010-06-28.(Original from the University of Michigan)
  3. ^ "（抗日战争）冬季攻势述评". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-11-29. (article about the Winter Offensive)
  4. ^ "Kuroda Shigenori". Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  5. ISBN 978-0-8133-3600-8
    .
  6. ^ "Southern Army". Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  7. ^ "14. Area Army". Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "Jose P". Angelfire. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
  9. ^ "The Philippine Presidency Project". Manuel L. Quezon III, et al. Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
  10. ^ a b Cannon, M. Hamlin. "Leyte: The Return to the Philippines". Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Kuroda Shigenori, Lieutenant-General". Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  12. ^ "JOSE G. LUKBAN". Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  13. ^ "Japanese War Crime Trials". HistoryNet. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  14. ^ Book was published by Cambridge University Press by Yuma Totani from the University of Hawaii on page 213 and other pages of "Justice in Asia and the Pacific Region 1945-1952 Allied War Crimes Prosecutions". The book stated that Kuroda was too ill and could not speak who wrote for 31 weeks of court trials. Kuroda's court trials were the longest trial out of the Japanese army leader trials, Honma and Yamashita lasted only 8 to 9 weeks before a verdict and other Japanese officers even shorter time verdict.
  15. ^ https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/justice-in-asia-and-the-pacific-region-19451952/45766BA2A9330B928C8A35529179A812 Justice in Asia and the Pacific Region, 1945–1952 Allied War Crimes Prosecutions Yuma Totani, University of Hawaii, Hilo
  16. ISBN 9781316104118, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316104118
    http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1949/mar1949/gr_l-2662_1949.html
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