Hajime Sugiyama

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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,Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia 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.

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In 1924, Sugiyama became a protege of Army Minister Ugaki Kazushige. {{citation needed|date=September 2022}} Subsequently, he was promoted to major general in May 1925 and appointed Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs in 1928. Within the same timeframe, he also became a leading figure in the Army's Control Faction, the Tōseiha.{{sfn|Tucker|2001|p=311}}

In 1931, he participated in the March incident, a failed coup-d'etat which attempted to make Ugaki Prime Minister. Later that year, as Under Secretary of the Army, he made an official announcement defending the actions of the military in the Mukden Incident.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

With the rise of the rival Kōdōha faction under Sadao Araki to the post of Army Minister, Sugiyama was sidelined to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in March 1933. However, the failed coup d'etat of the February 26 incident in 1936 led to a purge of the Kōdōha from positions of authority and Sugiyama was promoted to full general in November 1936.Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II{{Failed verification|date=September 2022}}

File:Hajime Sugiyama in Shanghai.jpg

In February 1937, Sugiyama became Army Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Senjūrō Hayashi and remained in that position under the succeeding Prime Minister, Fumimaro Konoe.{{sfn|Kurosawa|2016|p=1601}}

During his tenure, tensions between Japanese forces and the Chinese grew more severe. When hostilities broke out near the Marco Polo Bridge, Sugiyama pushed Konoe for retaliation against China, thereby giving rise to the Second Sino-Japanese War.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}.

On 3 June 1938, Sugiyama left his position as Army Minister to become a member of Japan's Supreme War Council.Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II In December 1938, he briefly left the Council to assume command over the North China Area Army and the Mongolia Garrison Army respectively before returning in September 1939.Ibid.{{sfn|Kurosawa|2016|p=1601}}

By September 3, 1940, Hajime Sugiyama succeeded the elderly Prince Kan'in Kotohito as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. {{sfn|Kanski|2018|p=200}}

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File:Sugiyama Hajime.jpg On the eve of the Second World War's expansion into Asia and the Pacific, General Sugiyama was one of the leading Army officers lobbying for war with the West.Ibid. 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.{{sfn|Kanski|2018|p=200}}Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan{{page needed|date=September 2022}} Nonetheless, by 1 December 1941, the Emperor ultimately gave his imperial sanction for war. {{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=371-372}}

File:Kuniaki Koiso Cabinet 19440722.png's (third from left on front row) cabinet, with Mitsumasa Yonai (right on front row), July 1944.]]

Following the war’s outbreak, Sugiyama was responsible for directing the Army’s ensuing military operations.{{sfn|Keegan|2002|p=153}}{{sfn|Dunnigan|Nofi|1995|p=467}} 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.{{sfn|Adams|1994|p=60}}{{sfn|Wright|1989|p=128}}

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.{{sfn|Adams|1994|p=63}}{{cite encyclopedia |last1=McEvoy |first1=William P. |last2=Morgan |first2=Troy D. |last3=Tucker |first3=Spencer C. |editor1-last= Perez |editor1-first= Louis G. |title=Land Battle for Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943) |encyclopedia=Japan at War:An Encyclopedia |date=January 8, 2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHXG0JV9zEkC&dq=battle+of+Midway+Guadalcanal+turning+point&pg=PA106 |isbn = 9781598847420 |access-date=16 September 2022 |page=106}} In the same year, Sugiyama was awarded the honorary rank of field marshal.{{sfn|Kanski|2018|p=200}}

As the war fronts collapsed on all sides, Sugiyama was relieved of his post as Chief of the General Staff on February 21, 1944, by General Hideki Tōjō (who continued to serve concurrently as Prime Minister).Ibid. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the Inspector-general of Military Training, which was still one of the most prestigious positions in the Army.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

After Tōjō's ouster in 1944, Sugiyama again became Army Minister in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso.{{sfn|Kurosawa|2016|p=1601}}{{sfn|Tucker|2001|p=311}} 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.{{sfn|Kanski|2018|p=200}}Frank, Downfall The End of the Japanese Empire{{page needed|date=September 2022}}

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.Chen, WW2 Database{{circular reference|date=September 2022}} His grave is at the Tama Cemetery, in Fuchū, Tokyo.

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{{Portal|Japan|Biography}}

• {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Michael C.C. |author-link= |date=1994 |title=The Best War Ever:America & World War II |location= |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-4697-8}}
• {{cite book | last = Bix | first = Herbert P. | authorlink = Herbert P. Bix | year = 2001 | title = Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan | publisher = Harper Perennial | location = New York | isbn = 0-06-093130-2 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Dunnigan |first1=James F. |last2=Nofi |first2=Albert A. |author-link= |date=1995 |title=Victory at Sea: World War II in the Pacific |url= |location= |publisher=William Morrow & Company, Inc. |isbn=0-688-14947-2}}
• {{cite book | last = Dupuy | first = Trevor N. | authorlink = Trevor N. Dupuy | year = 1992 | title = Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography | publisher = HarperCollins Publishers Inc | location = New York | isbn = 0-7858-0437-4}}
• {{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | authorlink = Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: the End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | publisher = Penguin, non-classics | location = | isbn = 0-14-100146-1 }}
• {{cite book | last = Fuller | first = Richard | year = 1992 | title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai | publisher = Arms and Armor | location = London | isbn = 1-85409-151-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/shokanhirohitoss00full }}
• {{cite book | last = Hayashi | first = Saburo |author2=Cox, Alvin D | year = 1959 | title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War | publisher = The Marine Corps Association | location = Quantico, Virginia | id = }}
• {{cite book |last=Kanski |first=Jack J. |author-link= |date=2018 |title=Military Commanders of World War Two: A Concise Outline |url= |location=Leicester,UK |publisher=Troubadour Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1788032-919}}
• {{cite book |last=Keegan |first=John |author-link=John Keegan |date=2002 |title=Who's Who in World War II |url= |location= |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-203-43246-0}}
• {{cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Kershaw |date=2008 |title=Fateful Choices:Ten Decisions That Changed The World (1940-1941) |location=London,UK |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-311372-0}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |title=Hajime Sugiyama |encyclopedia=World War II: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection |date=2016 |last=Kurosawa |first=Fumitaka |editor-last=Tucker |editor-first=Spencer C. |publisher=ABC,CLIO LLC |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=9781851099696 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wm_YDAAAQBAJ&dq=Sugiyama+Japanese+Army+field+marshal&pg=PA1601 |access-date=16 September 2022 }}
• {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C. |author-link= |date=2001 |title=Who's Who In Twentieth-Century Warfare |url= |location=London, UK & New York, NY |publisher=Routledge |page= |isbn=0-203-40253-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Michael (Ed.) |author-link= |date=1989 |title=The World At Arms:The Reader's Digest Illustrated History of World War II |url= |location=London,UK |publisher=The Reader's Digest Association Limited |isbn=0-89577-333-3}}

{{commons category|Hajime Sugiyama}}

• {{cite web| last = Ammenthorp| first = Steen| url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Sugiyama/Hajime/Japan.html| title = Sugiyama Hajime| work = The Generals of World War II}}
• {{cite encyclopedia| last = Budge| first = Kent| url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/S/u/Sugiyama_Gen.htm| title = Sugiyama Gen| encyclopedia = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia}}
• {{cite web| last = Chen| first = Peter| url = http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=371&list=Ground| title = Sugiyama Hajima| work = WW2 Database}}{{circular reference|date=September 2022}}

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{{succession box| title=Army Minister| before= Kōtarō Nakamura| after=Seishirō Itagaki| years=Feb 1937 – June 1938| }}

{{succession box| title=Army Minister| before= Tōjō Hideki| after=Anami Korechika| years=Jul 1944 – Apr 1945| }}

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{{succession box | before=none | title=Commander IJA 1st General Army | years=Apr 1945 – Sept 1945 | after=Kenji Doihara}}

{{succession box | before=Otozō Yamada | title=Inspector-General of Military Training | years=Jul 1944 – Nov 1944 | after=Shunroku Hata}}

{{succession box | before=Prince Kan'in Kotohito | title=Chief of Imperial Japanese Army General Staff | years=Oct 1940 – Feb 1944 | after=Tōjō Hideki}}

{{succession box | before=Shigeru Hasunuma | title=Commander Mongolia Garrison Army | years=Aug 1939 – Sept 1939 | after=Naozaburo Okabe}}

{{succession box | before=Hisaichi Terauchi | title=Commander North China Area Army | years=Dec 1938 – Aug 1939 | after=Hayao Tada}}

{{succession box | before=Yoshikazu Nishi | title=Inspector-General of Military Training | years=Aug 1936 – Feb 1937 | after=Hisaichi Terauchi}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugiyama, Hajime}}

Category:1880 births

Category:1945 deaths

Category:Military personnel from Fukuoka Prefecture

Category:Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II

Category:Marshals of Japan

Category:Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Army

Category:Japanese military personnel who died by suicide

Category:People from Kitakyushu

Category:Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War

Category:Suicides by firearm in Japan

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun

Category:Japanese anti-communists

Category:Imperial Japanese Army officers