, birth_date =
, death_date =
, birth_place =
Kōchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...
, Japan
, death_place =
, image =
, caption =
, office1 = 33
rd Army Minister
, monarch1 =
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 ...
, primeminister1 =
Kijūrō Shidehara
Baron was a pre–World War II Japanese diplomat and politician. He was Prime Minister of Japan from 1945 to 1946 and a leading proponent of pacifism in Japan before and after World War II. He was the last Japanese Prime Minister who was a mem ...
, term_start1 = 23 August 1945
, term_end1 = 1 December 1945
, predecessor1 =
Prince 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 H ...
, successor1 = Office abolished
, nickname =
, allegiance =
, branch =
, serviceyears = 1908–1945
, rank =
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, commands =
Thirteenth ArmyNorthern China Area Army
The was an area army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
History
The Japanese North China Area Army was formed on August 21, 1937 under the control of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to th ...
, battles =
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 ...
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 opposin ...
, awards =
, relations =
Shimomura in 1955
was a general 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 ...
and the final
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 ...
of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
.
Biography
Early career
Shimomura was born in
Kōchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...
, but was raised in
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was .
Overview Cityscape
...
, where his father was a recruiting officer for the Imperial Japanese Army. After attended military preparatory schools in Kanazawa and Nagoya, he graduated 6th out of 273 cadets from the 20th 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 1908. His classmates included
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 ...
,
Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko
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 H ...
,
Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa
, was the 3rd head of a collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family.
Early life
Prince Naruhisa was the son of Prince Yoshihisa Kitashirakawa and Princess Tomiko.Takenobu, Yoshitaro. (1906). Prince Naruhisa succeeded as head of the hous ...
,
Mitsuru Ushijima
was a Japanese general who served during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. He was the commanding general of the 32nd Army, which fought in the Battle of Okinawa during the final stages of the war. Ushijima's troops were defeated, ...
,
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 ...
,
Takashi Sakai
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, known for his role as Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation.
Biography
Sakai was born in Kamo District, Hiroshima, now part of Hiroshima city. He was educ ...
, and
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 Decem ...
. His speciality was artillery. He subsequently graduated at the head of his class from the 28th 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 ...
in 1916.
After serving in a number of staff and administrative positions within 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 ...
, Shimomura was posted to France 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 ...
in 1919. He returned to the Strategy and Planning bureau of the General Staff in 1921 and was promoted to major in 1922. He was assigned as the Army observer to the Japanese delegation at the
Geneva Naval Conference
The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington N ...
negotiations from 1928 to 1929, during which time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He returned to Geneva in April 1931 as part of the Japanese delegation to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
and was promoted to colonel in August. The Geneva
Conference on Disarmament
The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Conference meets annually i ...
occurred in December. From December 1933 Shimomura was commander of the IJA 1st Heavy Field Artillery Regiment.
World War II
In March 1935, Shimomura was assigned to the staff of the
Kwantung Army
''Kantō-gun''
, image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo
, dates = April ...
, returning to Japan in December to serve as an instructor at the Army Staff College. 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 March 1936. He returned to the General Staff as Chief of the 4th Bureau from August 1936, and of the 1st Bureau from September 1937. The 1st Bureau was in charge of operational planning, and Shimomura was strong proponent of a more aggressive approach towards the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
government in the
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
area and his recommendations influenced the decision of the Japanese General Staff to authorize the landings of the
Japanese Tenth Army at the start of the
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan
The also ...
. he was assigned command of
Tokyo Bay Fortress in September 1938.
Shimomura 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 March 1939. He was appointed commandant of the Artillery School in August 1940, and of the Army Staff College in September 1941. He was given a field command in October 1942 in the form of the
Japanese Thirteenth Army, a garrison force based in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
and surrounding provinces primarily to deter the possible landings of the
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
in the lower
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
area of
east central China.
In March 1944, Shimomura was withdrawn to the
Japanese home islands
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...
and became commander of the
Western District Army, another force intended to defend against
Allied landings. However, in November 1944, he was sent back to China as commander of the
North China Area Army
The was an area army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
History
The Japanese North China Area Army was formed on August 21, 1937 under the control of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to th ...
.
In May 1945, Shimomura was promoted to full
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, and on 23 August (just after the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
), was appointed final
Army Minister under the
Shidehara cabinet. One of the reasons for his selection was that he had never been involved in hostilities against the United States at any point in his military career. Shimomura was also concurrently the final
Inspector-General for Military Training. His primary task was to oversee the demobilization of the Imperial Japanese Army.
As with all other members of the former Japanese government, Shimomura was briefly taken into custody by the
American occupation authorities from 1946 to 1947, but was released without charges filed.
In 1955, Shimomura was asked to help create the post-war
Japan Defense Agency. In June 1959, he was elected to the
House of Councilors
The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...
in the post-war
Diet of Japan
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
for a single term with the support of the
Liberal-Democratic Party. He ran again in the
1965 Japanese House of Councillors election, but was defeated. Shimomura died in a
traffic accident on 25 March 1968.
Decorations
* 1940 –
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 ...
, 3rd class
* 1940 –
![JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 2Class BAR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/JPN_Zuiho-sho_%28WW2%29_2Class_BAR.svg)
Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class
[『官報』第4008号「叙任及辞令」May 20, 1940]
* 1944 –
![JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 1Class BAR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/JPN_Zuiho-sho_%28WW2%29_1Class_BAR.svg)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure 『官報』第1850号「叙任及辞令」October 2, 1918
* 1958 –
![JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/JPN_Kyokujitsu-sho_1Class_BAR.svg)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
References
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External links
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Footnotes
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimomura, Sadamu
1887 births
1968 deaths
People from Kōchi Prefecture
Japanese generals
Japanese military attachés
Japanese military personnel of World War II
Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Army
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians
Members of the House of Councillors (Japan)
Road incident deaths in Japan
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun
Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class