Suzuki Keiji

Suzuki Keiji
Keiji Suzuki as a Major General
Native name	鈴木敬司
Nickname(s)	"Japanese Lawrence of Arabia" "Thunderbolt Commander"
Born	1897 Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Died	1967
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1918–1945
Rank	Major General
Unit	Taiwan Army of Japan
Commands held	Southern Spy Agency
Battles/wars	World War II

Suzuki Keiji (鈴木敬司^?, February 6, 1897-September 20, 1967) was a Japanese army intelligence officer during the Second World War. Operating primarily in Burma, he helped form the Burma Independence Army and was an advocate for Burmese independence, described as a "Japanese Lawrence of Arabia". The Burmese refererred to him by the nom de guerre Bo Mogyo, meaning "Thunderbolt Commander". However, his mission ultimately laid the groundwork for the Japanese occupation of Burma. Despite his commitment to Burmese Independence, Suzuki was opposed to the independence of Korea.

Suzuki was trained at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and graduated as an infantry officer in 1918. He subsequently attended the General Staff College and in 1929 began clandestine operations in the Philippines. His main focus, in both his studies and early career, was Anglo-American affairs. Suzuki's official military position was the Head of the General Staff Headquarters' Shipping Section. However, he was trained at the Rikugun Nakano Gakkō and was secretly an intelligence agent charged with disrupting Allied activities in Asia by shutting down supply lines on the Burma Road.

In the 1930s, Suzuki, operating out of Bangkok, recruited a number of Burmese dissidents and radicals. His network of associates would later become the nucleus of the Minami Kikan (南機関^?) underground spy organisation. He was closely connected with the Thakins, a nationalist group of students and labourers. In 1940, he secretly entered Rangoon with assistance from his network of contacts, posing as a reporter named Minami Masuyo.