Hajime Sugiyama

Born to a former samurai family from Kokura (now part of Kitakyushu City), Fukuoka Prefecture, Sugiyama graduated from the 12th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1901. He served as a junior officer with 3rd Battalion of the 14th Regiment of the IJA 12th Division in the Russo-Japanese War,^[1] and was wounded in the face during the Battle of Shaho. Due to scars from that injury, he was unable to fully open his right eye.

After graduating from the 22nd class of the Army Staff College in 1910, Sugiyama served in Section 2 (Intelligence) within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He was posted as military attaché to the Philippines and Singapore in 1912, disguised as a civilian trading company employee, and disguised as an Imperial Japanese Navy lieutenant, joined in an inspection tour of the United States Navy base at Subic Bay. Promoted to major in 1913, he was posted again as military attaché to British India in 1915, where he met in secret with Indian independence activists Rash Behari Bose and Subhas Chandra Bose. In 1918, he was sent as a military observer to the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. At the end of the war, he served on the League of Nations committee on military aviation.

On his return to Japan, Sugiyama was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and commander of the 2nd Air Battalion in December 1918. Three years later in 1921, he was promoted to colonel. A strong proponent of military aviation, he ultimately rose to become the first head of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in 1922.

On the eve of the Second World War's expansion into Asia and the Pacific, General Sugiyama was one of the leading Japanese Army officers lobbying for war with the West.^{[citation needed]} On September 5, 1941, emperor Hirohito challenged his confidence in a quick victory over the Western powers by berating him for erroneously predicting in 1937 that Japan's invasion of China would be completed within three months.^[7] Nonetheless, by 1 December 1941, the Emperor ultimately gave his imperial sanction for war. ^[8]

Following Japan's entry into World War II, Sugiyama oversaw all military operations carried out by the Japanese Army throughout most of the conflict.^[9][10] As Chief of the Army General Staff, he was responsible for transmitting orders from Imperial General Headquarters to front line army commanders and their units.^[11] In a matter of months, the Empire of Japan conquered a broad swathe of territory in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific including Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Burma, and the Philippines.^[12][13]

By the beginning of 1943, the tide of the conflict had turned against the Japanese after their forces were decisively defeated at the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal.^[14][15] In the same year, Sugiyama was awarded the honorary rank of field marshal.^[7]

As the war fronts collapsed on all sides, Sugiyama was relieved of his post as Chief of the Army General Staff on 21 February 1944 by Japan's premier, Hideki Tōjō (who assumed command of the Army in his place while serving concurrently as Prime Minister). Shortly thereafter, he was named Inspector-general of Military Training, which was still one of the most prestigious positions in the Army.^{[citation needed]}

After Tōjō's ouster in 1944, Sugiyama again became Army Minister in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso.^[4][2] In July 1945, he was asked to take command of the First General Army, which directed defenses of eastern half Japanese mainland against the anticipated Allied invasion.^{[7][16][page needed]}

Ten days after the surrender of Japan, after finishing preparations for the final dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army as dictated by the victorious Allied Powers, Sugiyama committed suicide by shooting himself four times in the chest with his revolver while seated at his desk in his office. At home, his wife also killed herself.^{[17][circular reference]} His grave is at the Tama Cemetery, in Fuchū, Tokyo.