Hajime Sugiyama

Hajime Sugiyama
Sugiyama in military uniform.
Born	January 1, 1880 Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture
Died	September 12, 1945 (aged 65) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1901 - 1945
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands held	12th Division Northern China Area Army First General Army
Battles/wars	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Awards	Order of the Golden Kite, Order of the Rising Sun

Hajime Sugiyama (杉山 元 Sugiyama Hajime / Sugiyama Gen, January 1, 1880 – September 12, 1945) was a field marshal who served as successively as chief of the Army General Staff, and minister of war in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II between 1937 and 1944. As War Minister in 1937, he was one of the principal architects of the China Incident or second Sino-Japanese War. Later, as Army Chief of Staff in 1940 and 1941, he was a leading advocate of expansion into Southeast Asia and later preventive war against the United States.

Biography

Born to a former samurai family from Kokura (now part of Kitakyushu City), Fukuoka Prefecture, Sugiyama was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry in 1901 after graduation from the 12th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, and served in the Russo-Japanese War.^[1]

After graduating from the 22nd class of the Army Staff College in 1910 and serving on the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, Sugiyama was posted as military attaché to the Philippines and Singapore in 1912. Promoted to major in 1913, he was posted again as military attaché to British India in 1915. During this time, he also visited Germany, and became acquainted with the use of aircraft in combat in World War I.

On his return, Sugiyama was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and commander of the 2nd Air Battalion in December 1918. He was a strong proponent of military aviation, and after his promotion to colonel in 1921, became the first head of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in 1922.

In May 1925, Sugiyama became a major general and acting Vice War Minister in June 1930. In August, he became Vice War Minister and a lieutenant general.^[2] He returned to command the expanded Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in March 1933. Sugiyama was promoted to full general in November 1936.

Political career

Although never elected to political office, Sugiyama is regarded as a nationalist politician. He started in the Tōseiha faction, led by Kazushige Ugaki, with Koiso Kuniaki, Yoshijirō Umezu, Tetsuzan Nagata, and Hideki Tōjō. They opposed the radical Kodaha faction under Sadao Araki. Later both factions combined in the Imperial Way Faction movement, and Sugiyama became one of its ideological leaders.

Second Sino-Japanese War

Japanese news photo June 1, 1943

Shortly after the February 26 Incident, Sugiyama became Minister of War. Under his tenure, the situation between Japanese forces in Manchukuo and China became more severe, cumulating with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the invasion of Shanxi Province.

Sugiyama briefly accepted a field command as commanding general of North China Area Army and the Mongolia Garrison Army in December 1938.

World War II

On his return to Japan, Sugiyama was briefly appointed head of Yasukuni Shrine in 1939. On September 3, 1940, he succeeded elderly Prince Kan'in Kotohito as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He was one of the leading Army officers lobbying for war with the West. However, on September 5, 1941, on the verge of the war against the United States and Great Britain, he was severely berated by Emperor Hirohito for having earlier predicted in 1937 that Japanese invasion of China would be completed within three months, and challenged over his confidence in a quick victory over the Western powers.^[3]

Sugiyama was awarded the honorary rank of field marshal in 1943. As the war fronts collapsed on all sides, Sugiyama was relieved of his post as Chief of the General Staff on February 21, 1944, by General Hideki Tōjō (who continued to serve concurrently as Prime Minister).

Sugiyama was appointed to the Inspector-general of Military Training, which was still one of the most prestigious positions in the Army. After Tōjō's ouster in 1944, Sugiyama again became Minister of War. In July 1945, he was asked to take command of the First General Army, which directed defenses of the Japanese mainland against the anticipated Allied invasion.^[4]

Ten days after the surrender of Japan, after finishing preparations for the final dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army as dictated by the victorious Allied Powers, Sugiyama committed suicide by shooting himself four times in the chest with his revolver while seated at his desk in his office. At home, his wife also killed herself.^[5] His grave is at the Tama Cemetery, in Fuchū, Tokyo.

Sugiyama (left on first row), as minister of War in Kuniaki Koiso's (third from left on front row) cabinet, with Mitsumasa Yonai (right on front row)

References

1. Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
2. Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II
3. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
4. Frank, Downfall The End of the Japanese Empire
5. Chen, WW2 Database

Books

• Bix, Herbert P. (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan . New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093130-2.
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. ISBN 0-7858-0437-4.
• Frank, Richard B. (1999). Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Penguin, non-classics. ISBN 0-14-100146-1.
• Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4.
• Hayashi, Saburo; Cox, Alvin D (1959). Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Quantico, Virginia: The Marine Corps Association.

External links

• Ammenthorp, Steen. "Sugiyama Hajime". The Generals of World War II.
• Budge, Kent. "Sugiyama Gen". Pacific War Online Encyclopedia.
• Chen, Peter. "Sugiyama Hajima". WW2 Database.