Takashi Sakai

Takashi Sakai
Takashi Sakai
酒井隆
	Hideki Tōjō
Preceded by	Sir Mark Aitchison Young
Succeeded by	Rensuke Isogai
Personal details
Born	October 18, 1887; Lieutenant General
Commands	IJA 26th Division, IJA 4th Army, Southern China Area Army, China Expeditionary Army, Central District Army, IJA Third Area Army
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War; World War II

Takashi Sakai (酒井隆, Sakai Takashi, 18 October 1887 – 30 September 1946) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, known for his role as Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation.

Biography

Sakai was born in

Hiroshima city. He was educated in military preparatory schools in Kobe and Osaka and graduated from the 20th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1908, whereupon he was assigned to the IJA 28th Infantry Regiment. He graduated from the 28th class of the Army Staff College

.

Career in China

In 1928, Sakai was stationed in

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff

from 1932 to 1934.

As

Hebei Province. He became commander of the IJA 23rd Infantry Regiment in 1936. Sakai was promoted to major general in 1937 and was appointed commander of the IJA 28th Infantry Brigade. He became a lieutenant general in 1939, and was assigned to the Coordination Bureau, Asia Development Group, Mengjiang Board from 1939 to 1940. He was also assigned to the Mongolia Garrison Army

at this time.

Recalled to Japan in 1940, Sakai was briefly appointed commander of the

Imperial Guards Depot Division

.

World War II

Sakai was commander of the

IJA 38th Division, which was normally under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group to capture Hong Kong

, and was given a 10-day time limit.

On December 8, 1941, a few hours after the

Christmas Day, after 18 days of fighting. Sakai’s frustrations over the unexpectedly strong British resistance may have been reflected by the extreme brutality which characterized the campaign and subsequent occupation.^[1]

Sakai served as Japanese Governor of Hong Kong until February 20, 1942. He was recalled to Japan, and retired from active service in 1943.^[2] He was recalled to active service in February 1945, and was ordered to go to Beijing; however, the war came to an end before he departed Japan.

Execution

After the end of the war, Sakai was apprehended by the

executed by firing squad on September 30.^[4]

References

Footnotes

^ Budge, Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
^ Fuller, Shokan, Hirohito’s Samurai
^ "Trial of Takashi Sakai. United Nations War Crimes Commission". March 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
^ Stein, Trial of Takashi Sakai

Sources

Books

Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor.
ISBN 1-85409-151-4
.

Snow, Philip (2003). The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation. Yale University Press.
ISBN 0-300-09352-7
.

External links

Ammenthorp, Steen. "Sakai, Takashi". The Generals of World War II.
Budge, Kent. "Sakai Takeshi". Pacific War Online Encyclopedia.
Stein, Stewart. "Trial of Takashi Sakai". Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals. Vol. III. The United Nations War Crimes Commission, 1948. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014.

[1] Budge, Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

[2] Fuller, Shokan, Hirohito’s Samurai

[3] "Trial of Takashi Sakai. United Nations War Crimes Commission". March 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2023.

[4] Stein, Trial of Takashi Sakai

[1]

[2]

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