was a field marshal ('' gensui'') in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was the last surviving Japanese military officer with a marshal's rank. Hata was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1948, but was paroled in 1954.

Biography

Early years

Hata was a native of Fukushima Prefecture, where his father was a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

of the Aizu Domain. At the age of 12, the family relocated to

Hakodate, Hokkaidō is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.83 ...

, but at the age of 14, he was accepted into the prestigious First Tokyo Middle School. However, his father died the same year. Unable to afford the tuition, Hata enrolled in the Army Cadet School instead, going on to graduate in the 12th class of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

in 1901 as a second lieutenant in the artillery. Hata served in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. He graduated from the 22nd class of the

Army Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For exa ...

with top rankings in November 1910. Sent as a military attaché to Germany in March 1912, Hata stayed in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a military observer. He was promoted to major in September 1914 and to lieutenant colonel in July 1918, while still in Europe, and he stayed on as a member of the Japanese delegation to the

Versailles Peace Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 19 ...

negotiations in February 1919. On his return to Japan, Hata was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and given command of the 16th Field Artillery Regiment in July 1921, and was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

and commander of the 4th Heavy Field Artillery Brigade in March 1926. Hata was subsequently assigned to the strategic planning division of the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army. Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...

, serving as chief of the Fourth Bureau in July 1927 and Chief of the First Bureau in August 1928. Hata was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in August 1931 and became Inspector General of Artillery Training. He was then given a field command, that of the 14th Division in August 1933. After serving as head of the

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...

from December 1935, he became commander of the

Taiwan Army of Japan The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army recruited from, and stationed on, the island of Taiwan as a garrison force. History Following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki transferred control of Taiwan from Qing dynasty C ...

in 1936.

Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II

His rise after the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

was then very rapid: Military Councilor, Inspector General of Military Training and promotion rank of

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

all in late 1937. He was appointed as commanding general of the

Central China Expeditionary Army ''Nakashina hakengun'' , image= , caption= , dates= November 7, 1937 - September 23, 1939 , country= Empire of Japan , allegiance= , branch= Imperial Japanese Army , type= Infantry , role= Army Corps , garrison= , nickname= , battles=Battle of ...

in February 1938, to replace General Matsui Iwane, who had been recalled to Japan over the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the ...

. Hata became Senior Aide-de-Camp to

Emperor Shōwa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

in May 1939 followed by a stint as

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from August 1939 to July 1940 during the terms of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Nobuyuki Abe was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea, and Prime Minister of Japan. Early life and military career Abe was born on November 24, 1875, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the son of former samurai Abe Nobumitsu. ...

and

Mitsumasa Yonai was a Japanese general and politician. He served as admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Minister of the Navy, and Prime Minister of Japan in 1940. Early life and career Yonai was born on 2 March 1880, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, the firs ...

. In July 1940, Hata had a pivotal role in bringing down the Yonai cabinet by resigning his post as Minister of War. Hata returned to China as commander-in-chief of the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was headq ...

in March 1941. He was the main Japanese commander at the time of

Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign The Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign or the Chekiang–Kiangsi campaign ( Japanese: 浙贛作戦, ), also known as Operation Sei-go ( Japanese: せ号作戦), was a campaign by the China Expeditionary Army of the Imperial Japanese Army under Shunroku ...

, during which Chinese sources claim that over 250,000 civilians were killed. Hata was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal ('' Gensui'') on June 2, 1944 following Japanese victory at

Operation Ichi-Go Operation Ichi-Go ( ja, 一号作戦, Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit=Operation Number One) was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from A ...

. Hata was requested to take command of the

Second General Army ''Dai-ni Sōgun'' , image = , caption = , dates = April 8, 1945-November 30, 1945 , country = Empire of Japan , allegiance = Empe ...

, based in Hiroshima from 1944 to 1945 in preparation for the anticipated Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. He was thus in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing and survived. One of the only senior figures to survive the explosion, Hata took command of the city and relief efforts in the following days. Hata was one of the senior generals who agreed with the decision to surrender, but asked that he be stripped of his title of Field Marshal in atonement for the Army's failures in the war.

Promotions

* Second Lieutenant: June 1901 * Lieutenant: November 1903 * Captain: June 1905 * Major: April 1914 * Lieutenant Colonel: July 1918 * Colonel: July 20, 1921 * Major General: March 2, 1926 * Lieutenant General: August 1, 1931 * General: November 1, 1937 * Marshal: June 2, 1944

Judgement

Hata was arrested by the American occupation authorities after the end of the war, and charged with war crimes. He was the only surviving Japanese Field Marshal who faced criminal charges along with other defendants. In 1948, as a result of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, he was sentenced to life imprisonment under the charges of: “Conspiracy, waging aggressive war, disregarding his duty to prevent atrocities”. Hata was paroled in 1954, and headed a charitable foundation for the welfare of former soldiers from 1958. He died in 1962, while attending a ceremony honouring the war dead. Hata's older brother, Eitaro Hata (1872–1930), was also a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and commander-in-chief of the

Kwangtung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

, from July 1929 until his death, in May 1930, from acute nephritis.

References

Books

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External links

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Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hata, Shunroku 1879 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Fukushima Prefecture Marshals of Japan Hibakusha Japanese people convicted of war crimes Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of World War II Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Army Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression Japanese people convicted of crimes against humanity People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Japanese politicians convicted of crimes Imperial Japanese Army officers