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Otsudzo YamadaGeneral of the Imperial Japanese Forces
Date of Birth: 06.11.1881
Country:  Japan |
Content:
Biography of Otsuzo Yamada
Otsuzo Yamada was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the Kwantung Army. He was born on November 6, 1881, in Nagano Prefecture. Yamada received his military education in Tokyo and had a successful career in the army.
Early Career
In November 1902, Yamada graduated from the Japanese Imperial Military Academy and was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. He served in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and was promoted to First Lieutenant in February 1905. In September 1912, he was promoted to Captain.
Advancement and Leadership Roles
In November 1912, Yamada graduated from the prestigious Army War College, which produced many influential military figures in militaristic Japan. He was promoted to Major in June 1918. In 1925, he became a Colonel and was appointed the commander of the 26th Cavalry Regiment. In 1926, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Japanese occupation forces in Korea.
From July 1927 to 1930, Yamada served in the Communications Department of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army. In August 1930, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and became the commander of the Cavalry School. From August 1933, he served as the Chief of the 3rd Bureau of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army.
In August 1934, Yamada was promoted to Lieutenant General and held various administrative positions, including the head of the Japanese Imperial Military Academy. In March 1937, with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he took command of the 12th Infantry Division based in Manchuria. In January 1938, he was appointed the commander of the 3rd Army, and in December, the commander of the Central Expeditionary Army in China.
Later Years and Capture
In 1940, Yamada was promoted to the rank of Army General and was transferred to Japan to serve as the Chief Inspector of Military Training. He held this position until 1944 and was a member of the Supreme War Council of Japan. On July 18, 1944, Yamada returned to Manchuria as the last Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army.
Preparing for an inevitable armed conflict with the Soviet Union and realizing that Japan, exhausted from World War II, would not provide support, Yamada tried to strengthen his troops by forming eight new infantry divisions and seven infantry brigades from poorly trained conscripts and volunteers.
During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, which began on August 9, 1945, Soviet forces bypassed well-fortified areas and destroyed Japanese units that lacked sufficient tank and artillery support. In a matter of days, they inflicted heavy losses and completely defeated the enemy's defense.
After a series of unsuccessful counterattacks and an unanswered proposal for a ceasefire, on August 20, 1945, Yamada was forced to order the capitulation of the Kwantung Army. Along with approximately 600,000 Japanese military personnel, he was captured and subsequently taken to Khabarovsk.
In December 1949, Yamada was tried along with 12 former members of the Kwantung Army by a military tribunal of the Primorsky Military District. He was found guilty of creating and using biological weapons (see Unit 731) and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In July 1950, at the request of the government of the People's Republic of China, Yamada and other former Japanese military personnel were extradited by the Soviet Union to be held accountable for war crimes committed in China. Yamada acknowledged his responsibility for the crimes committed by his subordinates and spent over 5 years in prison in Fushun.
In June 1956, following an amnesty declaration, Otsuzo Yamada was released from prison and repatriated to Japan. He died on July 18, 1965, at the age of 83.
