Shiro Makino (18 April 1893 – 10 August 1945) was a Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Japanese Army who commanded the IJA 16th Division in the Philippines during the Pacific War. He committed seppuku after the defeat of the Japanese in the Philippine islands in August 1945.
Biography[]
Shiro Makino was born on 18 April 1893 in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1914 and from the Army War College in 1922, and he was sent to Taiwan in 1925. In 1932, he became a military academy instructor before being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1933, Major-General in 1940, and Lieutenant-General in 1943. In 1944, he was given command of the IJA 16th Division in the Philippines as the Pacific War began to near its end, and his division suffered extremely heavy losses on Leyte in October 1944. On 10 August 1945, he took responsibility for the defeat and committed seppuku rather than surrender to the United States.