was a

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 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 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 ...

, Japanese forces under Nakajima's command committed the 1937

Nanking 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 ...

Biography

A native of

Oita prefecture Oita often refers to: * Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan * Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture Oita or Ōita may also refer to: Places * Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan *Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stad ...

, Nakajima attended military preparatory schools as a youth, and graduated from the 15th 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 1903. He served in combat 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 ...

. After the war, he attended the

Army War College (Japan) :''This article deals with the Empire of Japan's Army War College. For other war colleges, see: War college.'' The ; Short form: of the Empire of Japan was founded in 1882 in Minato, Tokyo to modernize and Westernize the Imperial Japanese Army. ...

, and graduated from the 25th class in 1913. From July 1918 to May 1923, he was stationed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as a

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

. He 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 a ...

in April 1932 and was appointed commander of the

Maizuru is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,644 in 34817 households and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maizuru is located in northern Kyoto Pref ...

Army District, responsible for the defenses of Honshū’s coast along the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

.Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War I Nakajima served as commandant of the

Narashino is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km². The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is located in far northw ...

Chemical Warfare School from 1933 to 1936. In March 1936, he was promoted to

and was appointed a Provost Marshal. With the start of the

, Nakajima was appointed commander of the IJA 16th Division, and participated in the Second Shanghai Incident and operations in

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

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 ...

. Under the elderly General

Iwane Matsui was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the expeditionary force sent to China in 1937. He was convicted of war crimes and executed by the Allies for his involvement in the Nanjing Massacre. Born in Nagoya, Matsui chose ...

, Nakajima was named Operational Commander in the Battle of Nanjing in late-1937 and was thus the senior officer (aside from the nominal commander in chief

Prince Asaka General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of E ...

) at the time of 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 ...

. His wartime diary, published in 1985, has proved to be an important source of evidence for the events of the Nanjing massacre. Nakaijma was subsequently at the

Battle of Wuhan The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui ...

before being transferred to take command of the

Japanese Fourth Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo from the Russo-Japanese War until the end of World War II. History Russo-Japanese War The Japanese 4th Army was initially raised on June 24, 1904 in the midst of the Russo-Japan ...

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 1938 to 1939. Recalled to Japan in 1939, Nakajima retired in September 1939 and died in October 1945 of illness.

References

Books

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External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Kesago 1881 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Ōita Prefecture Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of World War II Nanjing Massacre perpetrators