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 ...

, who commanded the 17th Area Army in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

from April 1945 until the end of

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 ...

Life

Yoshio Kozuki became an

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 marine i ...

officer in 1909 and was a language officer in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He served in several positions until August 1940, when he became commander of the 19th Division, based in Korea. On July 4, 1942, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army based 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 ...

. On May 28, 1943, he took command of the

Mongolia Garrison Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese Mongolia Garrison Army was raised on December 27, 1937 as a garrison force in Japanese-dominated Inner Mongolia and adjacent areas of north China. From Ju ...

. In November 1944, he became Commander of the 11th Army and in April 1945 of the Seventeenth Area Army in Korea, which was demobilized in August 1945 without having seen combat. After the war, he was Vice Minister of Demobilization and in 1947, he became Head of the Demobilization Bureau, which fell under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

References

Generals.dk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozuki, Yoshio 1886 births 1971 deaths Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Kumamoto Prefecture People from Kumamoto Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of World War II