Hajime Sugiyama
Hajime Sugiyama (1880-1945) was a senior Imperial Japanese Army officer who was in a leadership function through most of World War Two in the Pacific. After the surrender of Japan, he and his wife committed ritual suicide.
Nicknamed "Bathroom Door" in the military for his lack of facial edxpression, he prepared, in 1912, the first contingency plans for the capture of Singapore. In the 1920s, he was head of Army Air Force procurement.[1]
Following Prince Kanin, he was Chief of Staff (Imperial Japanese Army) from 3 October 1940 to 21 February 1944. Emperor Hirohito then forced him to resign, so Hideki Tojo could have the triple roles of Prime Minister, Army Minister, and Army Chief of Staff. [2]
The Tojo government fell on 16 July. From July 1944 to April 1945, he was Army Minister, while Yoshijiro Umezu succeeded him as Chief of Staff.
Other major responsibilities included Inspector General of Military Education from 1 August 1936 to 9 February 1937, and briefly from {18 Jul 1944 - 22 Jul 1944). Before becoming Chief of Staff, he was Army Minister during the first year of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
References
- ↑ David Bergamini (1971), Japan's Imperial Conspiracy, Morrow, p. 1099
- ↑ Herbert P. Bix (2001), Hirohito and the making of modern Japan, Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0060931308, pp. 473