'' Gensui'' Baron was Commander of the

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

in 1933, Japanese ambassador to Manchukuo, and a field marshal 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 ...

Biography

Mutō was born in an ex''-

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 ...

'' family from Saga Domain. After graduating 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 ...

, he served in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

. After the war (and his promotion to captain) he was sent twice to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

as a military attaché, spending time in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

and in Odessa. He was fluent in the Russian language, which proved invaluable during 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 his promotion to major, then

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 ...

, he returned to Japan in a posting with the Imperial Guards. From 1915-1916, Mutō was Chief of 2nd Section (Maneuvers), 1st Bureau,

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 ...

. From 1917, he was assigned to

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

and headed the

Harbin Special Agency Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, China, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and lar ...

and operational offices in Irkutsk and Omsk. He returned to administrative positions in Japan from 1919–1921, before being appointed commander of the

IJA 3rd Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . History The 3rd Division was formed in Nagoya in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Nagoya ...

in 1921 and being dispatched to Russia during the Siberian Expedition against the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

. Mutō returned to Japan in 1922 as Vice Chief of the General Staff to 1925, and a member of the Supreme War Council from 1925-1926. He was briefly appointed commander of Tokyo Defense Command before assuming the role of Commander in Chief of the

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

, from 28 July 1926 – 26 August 1927. Baron Mutō was active in the founding the puppet state of Manchukuo. After a stint as Inspector-General of Military Training (26 August 1927 – 26 May 1932), he then returned to Manchuria from 1932 to 1933 as Commander in Chief of the

Manchukuo Imperial Army The Manchukuo Imperial Army ( zh, s=滿洲國軍, p=Mǎnzhōuguó jūn) was the ground force of the military of the Empire of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by Imperial Japan in Manchuria, a region of northeastern China. The force was pri ...

, while simultaneously holding the positions of Commander of the Kwantung Army and Governor of Kwantung Leased Territory. As Ambassador Extraordinary and

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

Emperor Hirohito 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 ...

, Mutō signed the Japan-Manchukuo Protocol of 1932. In 1933, he supervised

Operation Nekka The defense of the Great Wall () (January 1 – May 31, 1933) was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937 and after the Japanese in ...

, the invasion of Jehol. In early 1933, he was promoted to '' Gensui''. Diagnosed with jaundice, Mutō died in a hospital in Hsinking, Manchukuo. His elevation to the title of ''danshaku'' ( baron) was posthumous, as were his awards of the

Order of the Golden Kite The was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan". It was officially abolished 1947 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during the ...

(1st class) and Order of the Rising Sun (1st class). His grave is at the Buddhist temple of

Gokoku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Bunkyō. History This Buddhist temple was established by the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who dedicated it to his mother. It is notable for surviving the American air raids during World War II, w ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, and the sword he received on his promotion to '' gensui'' is on display at the

Yūshūkan The ("Place to commune with a noble soul") is a Japanese military and war museum located within Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda, Tokyo. As a museum maintained by the shrine, which is dedicated to the souls of soldiers who died fighting on behalf of th ...

Museum at

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

in Tokyo.

Alternate theory of death

Amleto Vespa Amleto Vespa (10 April 1884 – between 1941 and 1944)Francesco TotoroThe spying game. Amleto Vespa's Chinese Affair (1884-1944) translation of ''Amleto Vespa spia in Cina (1884-1944) '', 2014Mattia Fonzi NewsTown, 15 February 2015 (in Italian) ...

, a spy and former mercenary active in Manchukuo, and the journalist

Edgar Snow Edgar Parks Snow (19 July 1905 – 15 February 1972) was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution. He was the first Western journalist to give an account of the history of t ...

claimed that Mutō did not die of jaundice; that he had, rather, committed seppuku to protest the corruption and abuses he found in Manchukuo.''Life and Death in the Garden: Sex, Drugs, Cops, and Robbers in Wartime China'', p. 106, Kathryn Meyer, Rowman & Littlefield, , 2014

References

Books

* * *

External links

*
Muto's Field Marshal Sword at Yasukuni Museum, Tokyo

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muto, Nobuyoshi Japanese generals Japanese colonial governors and administrators 1868 births 1933 deaths Kazoku Marshals of Japan Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War People of the Kwantung Leased Territory People from Saga (city) Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite