was an

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 ...

general during

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 ...

. He was killed in action during the Battle of Guam.

Biography

Early military service

Takashina was born in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

and was a graduate of the 25th 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 December 1913. He initially served with the IJA 66th Infantry Regiment. In November 1922, he graduated from the 34th 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 ...

. During his early career, he served at the Keelung Fortress in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, as a battalion commander with the IJA 50th Infantry Regiment, and from August 1933 to August 1934 as instructor at the Army Engineering College. From 1934 to 1935, he was attached to the 4th Guards Regiment, and from 1935 to 1936 was on the staff of the 16th Depot Division in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. From March 1936 to August 1937, Takashina was attached to the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment. After his promotion to colonel in August 1937, was made commandant of Takao Fortress in Taiwan. In July 1938, Takashina became commanding officer of the IJA 60th Infantry Regiment and 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 1940. He was then assigned command the IJA 27th Infantry Brigade. From September 1940 to September 1942, he was the commanding officer of the infantry group of the

IJA 14th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the , and its military symbol was 14D. The 14th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in the closing ...

. From September 1941, this division was stationed at the Mongolian border at Handagai (south-east of

Nomonhan Nomonhan is a small village in Inner Mongolia, China, south of the city of Manzhouli and near the China–Mongolia border. In the summer of 1939, it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is known in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin G ...

). He was reassigned to command the IJA 17th Independent Mixed Brigade from September 1942 to October 1943. In October 1943, he 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 ...

. Takashina was then assigned command of the IJA 29th division which was tasked with the defense of the

Liaoyang Liaoyang () is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of Fo ...

area 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 ...

, as part of the strategic reserve under direct control of the

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

Battle of Guam

In early March 1944, the IJA 29th division was taken out of reserve and re-assigned to the IJA 31st Army. The bulk of division, comprising 18th and 38th infantry regiments, was sent to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

island together with 48th Independent Mixed Brigade. Smaller detachments were sent to

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...

and Rota islands. Takashina was overall commander of Guam's defenses from early 1944 onward. Guam had approximately 18,000 Japanese soldiers and marines. On 21 July, Guam was invaded by Allied forces. Two days after the United States

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with th ...

landed on Guam, 25 July, Takashina planned a counterattack to push the Americans back into the sea. His strategy was to gather up every available Japanese unit on the island and to make one huge offensive to flush the Americans out of their beachhead positions back into the sea. After unsuccessful attacks on the Japanese positions at Fonte Hill, the Marines' left and right flanks were forced back by the Japanese. Approximately six battalions were ready to attack the Americans by that time,Cushman, Lt. Col. Robert E., "The Fight at Fonte," Marine Corps Gazette, April 1947, p. 14 and the offensive occurred in the rain on the night of 25 July. The offensive was made during that weather in order to take the Marines by surprise, but white illumination shells fired by the American fleet enabled the Marines to detect the attack. The Marines were saved by tanks, and the Japanese attack ended early in the morning of 26 July. Over 3,500 Japanese soldiers died in the attempt. After the failure of the counteroffensive, the Japanese began evacuations of their defenses at Fonte Hill, as ordered by Takashina. However, Takashina was killed in action while overseeing the retreat. His superior

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 ...

assumed command of Japanese forces on Guam, and committed suicide on 11 August, that day after Guam was liberated by American forces.

Family

Takashina's son, Takehiko Takashina, was also a career military officer. He initially served in the Imperial Japanese Army, and after World War II rose to the rank of general in the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

and from 1978 to 1979 was the

Chief of Staff, Joint Staff The is the highest-ranking military officer and head of the Operational Authority (command) over the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The Chief of Staff, Joint Staff assists the Minister of Defense on all matters of the JSDF, and executes orde ...

, the highest ranking officer in the post-war Japanese military.

References

* * *Leckie, Robert. 1962. Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan. Da Capo Press. * *

External links

* *

Notes

{{Reflist 1891 births 1944 deaths Military personnel from Chiba Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Japanese generals Members of the Kwantung Army Japanese military personnel killed in World War II