Masutaro Nakai
| Masutaro Nakai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 October 1895 Tottori Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | 11 October 1969 (aged 73) |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Years of service | 1917–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars |
Second Sino-Japanese War World War II |
Masutaro Nakai (中井増太郎 Nakai Masutaro?, 13 October 1895 – 11 October 1969) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding Japanese ground forces in the Southwest Pacific during the closing months of the war. He led a brigade-sized formation, known as the Nakai Detachment, which had been detached from the 20th Division during the Finisterre Range campaign. He was later placed in command on the IJA 20th Division.
Nakai was born in Tottori Prefecture. He graduated from the 29th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in May 1917 and from the 42nd class of the Army Staff College in November 1930. As a junior officer, he participated in the Siberian Expedition. In the 1930s, he had extensive experience in China, where he served as a military attaché from 1937. In May 1939, he was promoted to colonel and in September of the same year was assigned to the China Expeditionary Army on the front lines of combat in central China in the Second Sino-Japanese War. From 1939-1940, he served on the senior staff of the IJA 21st Army tasked with the Canton Operation, and from February 1940, on the senior staff of the IJA 22nd Army, a garrison force in Guangxi which fought at the Battle of South Guangxi and which was disbanded for its insubordination in invading French Indochina. Nakai was sent back to Tokyo, but returned later in 1940 as a member of the staff of the Indochina Expeditionary Army.
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