Seishirō Itagaki | |
---|---|
Native name | 板垣 征四郎 |
Born |
Morioka, Iwate, Japan |
21 January 1885
Died | 23 December 1948 Sugamo Prison, Japan |
(aged 63) executed by hanging
Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
Service/branch | Imperial Japanese Army |
Years of service | 1904–1945 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | |
Battles/wars | |
Other work | Minister of War |
Seishirō Itagaki (板垣 征四郎 Itagaki Seishirō?, 21 January 1885 – 23 December 1948) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and a War Minister. Convicted of war crimes, he was executed in 1948.
Itagaki was born in Morioka city, Iwate prefecture into a samurai class family formerly serving the Nanbu clan of Morioka Domain. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1904. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905.
From 1924-1926, Itagaki was a military attaché assigned to the Japanese embassy in China. On his return to Japan, he held a number of staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during 1926–1927 before being given a field command as commanding officer of the IJA 33rd Infantry Brigade based in China. His brigade was attached to the IJA 10th Division from 1927–1928. Itagaki was then transferred to command the IJA 33rd Infantry Regiment in China from 1928–1929, under the aegis of the Kwantung Army.
Itagaki rose to become Chief of the Intelligence Section of the Kwantung Army from 1931, in which capacity he helped plan the 1931 Mukden Incident that led to the Japanese seizure of Manchuria. He was subsequently a military advisor to Manchukuo from 1932–1934.