was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Biography

A native of Saga prefecture, Tashiro graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903 and the 25th class of the Army Staff College in 1913. He was on the staff of the Japanese delegation to the

Washington Disarmament Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

in 1921. On his return to Japan, he served in a number of administrative positions within the

Imperial Army General Staff Office 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 ...

, including a stint from 1923 to 1924 when he was stationed in Hankou,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Promoted to colonel in the infantry in 1924, he was given command of the IJA 30th Infantry Regiment. Tashiro became Vice Chief of the 5th Section (Asian Intelligence), 2nd Bureau within the General Staff in 1926, and was considered an expert on China. He was promoted to major general in 1930, when he was given command of the IJA 27th Infantry Brigade. In 1932, he was promoted to

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. During the First Shanghai Incident, his commander, General Yoshinori Shirakawa was assassinated and he served as interim commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, but resigned due to ill health. He was reassigned as commander of the Kempeitai within the Kwantung Army in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

from 1933 to 1934, and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1934. He then served as

provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

from 1934 to 1935. He returned to the field as commander of the IJA 11th Division from 1935 to 1936. He was then made commander of the

Japanese China Garrison Army The was formed 1 June 1901 as the , as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It took the name China Garrison Army from 14 April 1912 and onward, though was typically referred to as th ...

from May 1936 to July 1937, and was thus the leading Japanese officer at the time of the

Marco Polo Bridge Incident The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident () or the July 7 Incident (), was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria ...

from July 7 to 9. However, Tashiro was hospitalized for heart illness and died in Tianjin on July 16, 1937, only a week later.

Decorations

* 1934 –

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, 2nd class * 1937 – JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure 『官報』「叙任及辞令」July 20, 1937

References

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External links

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Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tashiro, Kanichiro 1881 births 1937 deaths People from Saga Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Japanese generals Members of the Kwantung Army Japanese military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class