Kanichiro Tashiro

Kanichirō Tashiro (田代 皖一郎, Tashiro Kan'ichirō, 1 October 1881 – 16 July 1937) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Kanichirō Tashiro
General Kanichirō Tashiro
Native name	田代 皖一郎
Born	(1881-09-01)September 1, 1881 Taku, Saga, Japan
Died	July 16, 1937(1937-07-16) (aged 55) Tianjin, China
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service / branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1903 - 1937
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	11th Infantry Division Japanese China Garrison Army
Battles / wars	Second Sino-Japanese War Marco Polo Bridge Incident Battle of Beiping–Tianjin

Biography

A native of Saga prefecture, Tashiro graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903 and the 25th class of the Army Staff College in 1913. He was on the staff of the Japanese delegation to the Washington Disarmament Conference in 1921. On his return to Japan, he served in a number of administrative positions within the Imperial Army General Staff Office, including a stint from 1923 to 1924 when he was stationed in Hankou, China. Promoted to colonel in the infantry in 1924, he was given command of the IJA 30th Infantry Regiment.^[1]

Tashiro became Vice Chief of the 5th Section (Asian Intelligence), 2nd Bureau within the General Staff in 1926, and was considered an expert on China. He was promoted to major general in 1930, when he was given command of the IJA 27th Infantry Brigade. In 1932, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. During the First Shanghai Incident, his commander, General Yoshinori Shirakawa was assassinated and he served as interim commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, but resigned due to ill health. He was reassigned as commander of the Kempeitai within the Kwantung Army in Manchukuo from 1933 to 1934, and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1934. He then served as provost marshal from 1934 to 1935.

He returned to the field as commander of the IJA 11th Division from 1935 to 1936. He was then made commander of the Japanese China Garrison Army from May 1936 to July 1937, and was thus the leading Japanese officer at the time of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident from July 7 to 9.^[2] However, Tashiro was hospitalized for heart illness and died in Tianjin on July 16, 1937, only a week later.

Decorations

• 1934 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class ^[3]
• 1937 – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure ^[4]

References

• Fukagawa, Hideki (1981). (陸海軍将官人事総覧 (陸軍篇)) Army and Navy General Personnel Directory (Army). Tokyo: Fuyo Shobo. ISBN 4829500026.
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
• Hata, Ikuhiko (2005). (日本陸海軍総合事典) Japanese Army and Navy General Encyclopedia. Tokyo: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 4130301357.

External links

• Ammenthorp, Steen. "Tashiro Kanishiro". The Generals of World War II.
• Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41;: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.

Footnotes

1. Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II
2. Kaushik Roy, Sepoys against the Rising Sun: The Indian Army in Far East and South-East Asia, 1941–45. Brill Open, 2016, p.39
3. 『官報』第2129号「叙任及辞令」February 8, 1934
4. 『官報』「叙任及辞令」July 20, 1937