Seishiro Itagaki (21 January 1885 – 23 December 1948) was the commander of the Japanese Korean Army from 7 July 1941 to 7 April 1945, succeeding Kotaro Nakamura and preceding Yoshio Kozuki. From 1938 to 1939 he was briefly Minister of War of Japan, succeeding Hajime Sugiyama and preceding Shunroku Hata.
Biography[]
Seishiro Itagaki was born on 21 January 1885 in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. In 1904, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and served in the Russo-Japanese War upon graduation. From 1924 to 1926, Itagaki served as the military attaché to China, and in 1931 he became Chief of Intelligence of the Kwantung Army shortly before the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1936, he became Chief of the General Staff of the Kwantung Army, and he led the Japanese 5th Infantry Division to many victories including Operation Chahar. From 1938 to 1939 he briefly served as Minister of War between Hajime Sugiyama and Shunroku Hata. He was sent to Japanese Korea to lead the Japanese Korean Army in 1941 after the Nomonhan Incident tarnished his reputation as Chief-of-Staff of the China Expeditionary Army, but this post became important with the outbreak of World War II. In April 1945, he took command of the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaya, and he was accused of being responsible for war crimes committed against prisoners-of-war. On 12 September 1945, Itagaki surrendered to Louis Mountbatten of the United Kingdom, and he was tried and hanged for war crimes.