This is a select list of graduates from the Japanese Imperial Military Academies (1891–1934). It is not complete.
Graduates from 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 ...
(Military Academy)
1891 Class
*
Kazushige Ugaki
was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and cabinet minister before World War II, the 5th principal of Takushoku University, and twice Governor-General of Korea. Nicknamed Ugaki Issei, he served as Foreign Minister of Japan in the ...
: 1891
1897 Class
*
Sadao Araki
Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. As one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the polit ...
: November
*
Jinsaburo Mazaki: November
1904 Class
*
Tetsuzan Nagata
was a Japanese military officer and general of the Imperial Japanese Army best known as the victim of the Aizawa Incident in August 1935.
Nagata was an influential military figure in the Meiji government and the '' de facto'' leader of the ...
: October
1905 Class
*
Michitarō Komatsubara
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, during the Nomonhan Incident.
Biography
A native of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, where his father was a naval engineer, Komatsubara graduated from the 18th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Acad ...
1906 Class
*
Hiroshi Ōshima
Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese ambassador to Germany before and during World War II and (unwittingly) a major source of communications intelligence for the Allies. His role was perhaps best summed up by General Geo ...
1908 Class
*
Naruhiko Higashikuni
General was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Hi ...
1912 Class
*
Torashirō Kawabe
was a general and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during World War II. He was also the younger brother of General Masakazu Kawabe.
Biography
Born in Toyama prefecture, Kawabe graduated from the 24th class of the ...
: May
1915 Class
*
Kitsuju Ayabe
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Biography
Early career
Ayabe graduated from the 27th class of the Army Cavalry School in October 1917. On receiving his commission as Second lieutenant, he was posted to the 12th ...
: May
1921 Class
*
Akira Mutō
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was convicted of Japanese war crimes, war crimes and was executed by hanging. Mutō was implicated in both the Nanjing Massacre and the Manila massacre.
Biography
Mutō was a ...
: assigned to Military Academy, April
1922 Class
*
Takushiro Hattori
was an Imperial Japanese Army officer and government official. During World War II, he alternately served as the chief of the Army General Staff's Operations Section and secretary to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. After the war ended, he served as an ...
: July
1923 class
*
Hiromichi Yahara
was the senior staff officer in charge of operations of the 32nd Japanese Army at Okinawa during the American invasion of that island during World War II.
Defense of Okinawa
Yahara, who had taught strategy at the Army War College, was assigne ...
Graduates from the Japanese Army War College
The following were notable graduates of the
Army War College:
1903 Class
*
Hisaichi Terauchi
Count was a '' Gensui'' (or field marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II.
Biography Early military career
Terauchi was born in Tokyo Prefecture, and was the eldest son of ...
: December
1909 Class
*
Otozō Yamada
was a career officer, war criminal and general in the Imperial Japanese Army, serving from the Russo-Japanese War to the end of World War II.
Biography Early career
Yamada was born in Nagano Prefecture as the third son of Ichikawa Katashi, an a ...
: December
1910 Class
*
Toshizō Nishio
was a Japanese general, considered to be one of the Imperial Japanese Army's most successful and ablest strategists during the Second Sino-Japanese War, who commanded the Japanese Second Army during the first years after the Marco Polo Bridge In ...
: graduated from War College, assigned to Military Affairs Bureau, November
*
Koiso Kuniaki
was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea and Prime Minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945.
After Japan's defeat in World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early lif ...
: November
*
Gen Sugiyama: November
*
Shunroku Hata
was a field marshal ('' gensui'') in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. 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 ...
: graduated with top scholarly rank, November
1911 Class
*
Yoshijirō Umezu
(January 4, 1882 – January 8, 1949) was a Japanese general in World War II and Chief of the Army General Staff during the final years of the conflict. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Biography Early life a ...
: November
*
Tetsuzan Nagata
was a Japanese military officer and general of the Imperial Japanese Army best known as the victim of the Aizawa Incident in August 1935.
Nagata was an influential military figure in the Meiji government and the '' de facto'' leader of the ...
: November
1912 Class
*
Kenji Doihara
was a Japanese army officer. As a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, he was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
As a leading intelligence officer, he played a key role to the Japanese machinations that le ...
: November
1913 Class
*
Yasuji Okamura
was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, and commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army from November 1944 to the end of World War II. He was tried but found not guilty of any war crimes by the Shanghai War Crimes Tribunal after the ...
: November
1914 Class
*
Rikichi Andō
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and 19th and final Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from 30 December 1944 to October 1945.
Biography
Early career
Andō was a native of Miyagi Prefecture. He served as an instructor at the Army Wa ...
: December
*
Keisuke Fujie
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Fujie’s wife was the daughter of Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki.
Biography
Fujie was born in Hyōgo prefecture and graduated from the 18th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Acade ...
: November
*
Naruhiko Higashikuni
General was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Hi ...
1915 Class
*
Hiroshi Ōshima
Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese ambassador to Germany before and during World War II and (unwittingly) a major source of communications intelligence for the Allies. His role was perhaps best summed up by General Geo ...
*
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...
: December
*
Masaharu Homma
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Homma commanded the Japanese 14th Army, which invaded the Philippines and perpetrated the Bataan Death March. After the war, Homma was convicted of war crimes relating ...
: December
*
Shōjirō Iida
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Biography
Iida was a native of Yamaguchi prefecture and a graduate of the 20th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1908 and the 27th class of the Army Staff College in Decemb ...
: December
*
Hitoshi Imamura
was a Japanese general who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and was subsequently convicted of war crimes.
Early career
A native of Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, Imamura's father was a judge. Imamura graduated from t ...
: December
*
Masakazu Kawabe
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He held important commands in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and during World War II in the Burma Campaign and defense of the Japanese homeland late in the war. He was ...
1916 Class
*
Seishirō Itagaki
was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and War Minister from 1938 to 1939.
Itagaki was a main conspirator behind the Mukden Incident and held prestigious chief of ...
: November
*
Tomoyuki Yamashita
was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering ...
: November
*
Shizuichi Tanaka
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Japanese Military Governor of the Philippines during World War II.
Biography Early life and military service
Tanaka was born in Issai village, Hyōgo prefecture (now part of the city of Tatsun ...
*
Shigenori Kuroda
was a Japanese lieutenant general of the Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Governor-General of the Philippines during World War II.
Biography
Kuroda was born in Yanagawa, Fukuoka and graduated from the 21st class of the Imperial Japanese A ...
: November
*
Heitarō Kimura
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging.
Biography
Kimura was born in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, but was raised in Hiroshima prefecture, which he considered to be h ...
: November
1917 Class
*
Renya Mutaguchi
was a Japanese military officer, lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and field commander of the IJA forces during the Battle of Imphal.
Biography
Mutaguchi was a native of Saga Prefecture. He graduated from the 2 ...
: November
*
Jun Ushiroku
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army.
Biography
Born in what is now part of the city of Nantan, Kyoto prefecture, as the fourth son of a farmer, Ushiroku attended military preparatory schools in Osaka, and graduated from the 17th class ...
: November
*
Teiichi Suzuki: November
*
Kenryo Sato (Chief, Military Affairs Section, War Ministry; Chief, Military Affairs Bureau, same Ministry)
*
Seizo Arisue (Chief, Second Bureau-Intelligence, Army General Staff)
*
Tan Nukata (Chief, Third Bureau—Logistics, Army General Staff; Chief, General Affairs Bureau, do; Chief, Personnel Bureau, War Ministry)
*
Goro Isoya (Chief, Third Bureau-Logistics, Army General Staff)
1918 Class
*
Korechika Anami
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan.
Early life and career
Anami was born in Taketa city in Ōita Prefecture, where his father was a senior bureaucrat in the Home M ...
: November
*
Kiichiro Higuchi
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Biography
Higuchi was born in what is now part of Minamiawaji City on Awaji Island, Hyōgo Prefecture, as the eldest of nine siblings. When he was eleven years old, his p ...
: November
*
Kanji Ishiwara
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He and Itagaki Seishirō were the men primarily responsible for the Mukden Incident that took place in Manchuria in 1931.
Early life
Ishiwara was born in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Pref ...
: November
1919 Class
*
Hideyoshi Obata
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Biography
Obata was the fifth son of a Chinese language scholar from Osaka prefecture. He attended military preparatory schools and graduated from the 23rd class of the Imperial Japa ...
: December
*
Sōsaku Suzuki
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Biography Early career
Born in Aichi prefecture, Suzuki graduated from the 24th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1912. After leaving 31st class of the Army War Coll ...
: November
1920 Class
*
Hidemitsu Nakano
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding Japanese ground forces in the Southwest Pacific during the closing months of the war.
Biography
Nakano was born in Saga Prefecture, where his father was a former samurai retainer to Saga ...
: November
*
Kingoro Hashimoto
was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army and politician. He was famous for having twice tried to stage a coup against the civilian government in the 1930s.
Early career
Hashimoto was born in Okayama City, and a graduate of the 23rd class o ...
*
Akira Mutō
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was convicted of Japanese war crimes, war crimes and was executed by hanging. Mutō was implicated in both the Nanjing Massacre and the Manila massacre.
Biography
Mutō was a ...
1921 Class
*
Torashirō Kawabe
was a general and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during World War II. He was also the younger brother of General Masakazu Kawabe.
Biography
Born in Toyama prefecture, Kawabe graduated from the 24th class of the ...
: November
*
Harukichi Hyakutake
was a general in the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II. He is sometimes referred to as Haruyoshi Hyakutake or Seikichi Hyakutake. His elder brothers Saburō Hyakutake and Gengo Hyakutake were admirals in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Biograph ...
: December
1922 Class
*
Kiyotake Kawaguchi
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Biography
A native of Kōchi Prefecture, Kiyotake graduated from the 26th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1914, and from the 34th class of the Army War College (Japan ...
: November
*
Hatazō Adachi
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Early career
Adachi was born into an impoverished family, originally descended from samurai, in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1890 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Meiji, which is ...
: November
*
Takushiro Hattori
was an Imperial Japanese Army officer and government official. During World War II, he alternately served as the chief of the Army General Staff's Operations Section and secretary to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. After the war ended, he served as an ...
(Chief, Second Section operations, Army General Staff)
*
Susumu Nishiura (Chief, Army Affairs Section, War Ministry)
*
Akiho Ishii (Chief, Military Affairs Section, War Ministry)
1923 Class
*
Tadamichi Kuribayashi
General was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, part-time writer, haiku poet, diplomat, and commanding officer of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He is best known for having been the commander of the Japanese garrison at the bat ...
: November
*
Hong Sa-ik
Hong Sa-ik (hangul 홍사익;hanja 洪思翊; 4 March 1889 – 26 September 1946), and was also known by the Japanese pronunciation of his name - Kō Shiyoku (Japanese: 洪 思翊) or Kou Shiyoku, was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Jap ...
*
Okikatsu Arao
Colonel was one of the original plotters in a scheme to prevent the Emperor's declaration of surrender at the end of World War II. He was the chief of the War Affairs section of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Conspi ...
(Koko) (Chief, Shipping Section, Army General Staff; senior Staff Officer, Army Affairs Section, War Ministry; Chief, Third Section—Organization and Mobilization, Army General Staff)
*
Hiroo Sato Hiroo may refer to:
* Hiroo (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
* Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo, a neighborhood in the Shibuya district of Tokyo
* Hiroo Station, a subway station in Tokyo.
* Hiroo, Hokkaidō
is a town located in Tokachi Su ...
(Chief, War Materiel Section, War Ministry; and an officer who, like Col Arao, had the confidence of War Minister Anami)
*
Yozo Miyama (Chief, Third Section-Organization and Mobilization, Army General Staffs post which he held before the author assumed it; and Senior Adjutant, War Ministry)
*
Makoto Matsutani (Chief, 20th Group-War Coordination, Army General Staff; Military Secretary to Prime Minister Suzuki)
1925 Class
*
Shizuo Yokoyama
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, who is noted for his role in the Battle of Manila during the final days of World War II.
Biography
Yokoyama was born in Fukuoka Prefecture as the eldest son of a village ma ...
: November
1927 Class
*
Takeshi Mori: December
1929
*
Hiromichi Yahara
was the senior staff officer in charge of operations of the 32nd Japanese Army at Okinawa during the American invasion of that island during World War II.
Defense of Okinawa
Yahara, who had taught strategy at the Army War College, was assigne ...
: returned as an instructor 1937-1940
1930 Class
*
Takushiro Hattori
was an Imperial Japanese Army officer and government official. During World War II, he alternately served as the chief of the Army General Staff's Operations Section and secretary to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. After the war ended, he served as an ...
: November
*
Masutaro Nakai: December
1931 Class
*
Masanobu Tsuji
was a Japanese army officer and politician. During World War II, he was an important tactical planner in the Imperial Japanese Army and developed the detailed plans for the successful Japanese invasion of Malaya at the start of the war. He als ...
1937 Class
*
José Laurel III
José Sotero Hidalgo Laurel III, KGCR (August 27, 1914 – January 6, 2003) was a Filipino diplomat and the aide-de-camp of President Jose P. Laurel during the World War II period. He later became ambassador of the Philippines to Japan.
Early l ...
1944 Class
*
Takagi Masao (3rd President of South Korea, also known as Park Chung-hee)
Graduates in Military Overseas Studies
*
Shunroku Hata
was a field marshal ('' gensui'') in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. 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 ...
: Military Student, Germany, March 1912
*
Hisaichi Terauchi
Count was a '' Gensui'' (or field marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II.
Biography Early military career
Terauchi was born in Tokyo Prefecture, and was the eldest son of ...
: Military Student, Germany, February 1913
*
Yoshijirō Umezu
(January 4, 1882 – January 8, 1949) was a Japanese general in World War II and Chief of the Army General Staff during the final years of the conflict. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Biography Early life a ...
: Military Student, Germany, April 1913
*
Masaharu Homma
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Homma commanded the Japanese 14th Army, which invaded the Philippines and perpetrated the Bataan Death March. After the war, Homma was convicted of war crimes relating ...
: Military Student, England, August 1918 (and served as observer with British forces in France)
*
Hitoshi Imamura
was a Japanese general who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and was subsequently convicted of war crimes.
Early career
A native of Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, Imamura's father was a judge. Imamura graduated from t ...
: Military Student, England, April 1918; Assistant Military Attaché, England, October 1918
*
Naruhiko Higashikuni
General was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Hi ...
: Resident Officer, France, studying military tactics, April 1920
*
Tomoyuki Yamashita
was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering ...
: Military Student. Germany, July 1921
*
Hideyoshi Obata
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Biography
Obata was the fifth son of a Chinese language scholar from Osaka prefecture. He attended military preparatory schools and graduated from the 23rd class of the Imperial Japa ...
: Military Student, England, April 1923; Major, March 1926
*
Minoru Sasaki
sometimes referred to as Noburo Sasaki, was a Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Biography
Sasaki was born in Hiroshima Prefecture and studied at Shudo Junior and Senior High School. He graduated from the 26th ...
: Military Student, U.S.S.R., September 1927; same for Poland and U.S.S.R., August 1928
*
Torashirō Kawabe
was a general and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff during World War II. He was also the younger brother of General Masakazu Kawabe.
Biography
Born in Toyama prefecture, Kawabe graduated from the 24th class of the ...
: Resident Officer, Riga, Latvia (studying Soviet military affairs), January 1926-September 1928
Students in Army Cavalry School
*
Kitsuju Ayabe
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Biography
Early career
Ayabe graduated from the 27th class of the Army Cavalry School in October 1917. On receiving his commission as Second lieutenant, he was posted to the 12th ...
: Equitation Student, October 1917
Graduates from Artillery and Engineering School
*
Takeo Yasuda
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. While serving as director of the Army's Aviation Technology Research Institute during World War II, he was a key figure in scientific and technological development for the Imperial Japanese A ...
: July 1916
Graduates from the
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students stu ...
*
Kantarō Suzuki
Baron was a Japanese general and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945.
Biography
Early li ...
: 1887
*
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 ...
: 1901
*
Shigetarō Shimada
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He also served as Minister of the Navy. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early life and education
A native of Tokyo, Shimada graduated from t ...
: November 1904
Graduates from the
Naval War College
The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...
*
Kantarō Suzuki
Baron was a Japanese general and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945.
Biography
Early li ...
: 1898
*
Shigetarō Shimada
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He also served as Minister of the Navy. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early life and education
A native of Tokyo, Shimada graduated from t ...
: Class "A" Student, December 1913
*
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 ...
: 1913
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graduates of the Japanese Imperial Military Academies
Japanese Imperial Military Academies
Imperial Military Academies
Military history of Japan
Japanese military-related lists