(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 Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

Biography

Early life and career

Umezu was born in Nakatsu, Ōita, Japan, where his family ran a bookstore since the 18th century. During his years at the

Kumamoto Prefectural Seiseikou High School Kumamoto Prefectural Seiseikou High School is a co-educational public senior high school located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto prefecture. It is one of the Super Global High Schools in Japan. Notable alumni Academic * Einosuke Harada * Jun-Ichiro ...

in Kumamoto, he decided to pursue a military career. He graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy on November 30, 1903 and was commissioned a second lieutenant 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 ...

the following February 12, 1904. Promoted to lieutenant on June 30, 1905, he entered the 23rd class of the Army Staff College, graduating first in 1911. Following his promotion to captain on March 25, 1912, he was sent to Europe for further studies 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 betwee ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. While in Denmark, he was also a military observer from Japan, during the course of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and was promoted to major on June 1, 1918. From 1919 to 1921, he was appointed as a military attaché to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Umezu was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 8, 1922, and to colonel on December 15, 1925. During the 1920s, he was a member of the '' Tōseiha'', led by General

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 ...

along with

Gen Sugiyama was a Japanese field marshal and one of the leaders of Japan's military throughout most of World War II. As Army Minister in 1937, Sugiyama was a driving force behind the launch of hostilities against China in retaliation for the Marco Polo Br ...

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 l ...

, Tetsuzan Nagata and Hideki Tōjō. They represented a politically moderate line within the armed forces, in opposition to the radical ''

Kōdōha The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive expansionistic ideal ...

'' movement, guided by Sadao Araki. Umezu served as an instructor at the Army Staff College from 1923–1924, and was commander of the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment from 1924–1926. Umezu 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 ...

in August 1930 and commander of the IJA 1st Infantry Brigade. He worked at the General Staff from August 1933, and was sent as a military attaché to

from November 1933. After his return to Japan in March 1934, he was appointed commander of the

Japanese China Garrison Army The was formed 1 June 1901 as the , as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It took the name China Garrison Army from 14 April 1912 and onward, though was typically referred to as th ...

and in November repelled a large-scale Chinese incursion into Rehe Province. In June 1935 he signed the

He–Umezu Agreement The () was a secret agreement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China that was concluded on 10 June 1935, two years prior to the outbreak of general hostilities during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Background Since 1931, Japan had ...

, which was an attempt to defuse tensions between the

Republic of China 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 northeas ...

and Japan, and which gave Japan control over ten provinces of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

. Umezu 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 th ...

in August. In August 1935, he became commander of the Sendai-based IJA 2nd Division. He strongly opposed the February 26 incident attempted coup-de-etat in 1936. Umezu was appointed Vice Minister of War from March 1936 and working under Army Minister Terauchi Hisaichi, purged many of the radical ''

kōdōha The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive expansionistic ideal ...

'' members from the Army ranks.

World War II

Umezu returned to China in May 1938 as commander-in-chief of the IJA 1st Army. By this time, the IJA 1st Army had completed its combat operations, and was serving as a garrison force in Japanese-occupied northern China. From September 1939 he was commander-in-chief of the Kwangtung Army, which was likewise acting as a garrison force 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 Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

. He was promoted to full

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

on August 1, 1940. In July 1944, Umezu was appointed as the final Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, and a member of the Supreme War Council, following the resignation of

Hideki Tojo 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 ...

. Along with Army Minister Korechika Anami and Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, Soemu Toyoda, Umezu opposed surrender in August 1945; he believed that the military should fight on, forcing the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

to sustain such heavy losses in an invasion of Japan, that Japan could negotiate for peace under better terms. He was aware of the planned

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

by junior officers opposed to the surrender, but did nothing to either aid or hinder it. He was personally ordered by Emperor Hirohito to sign the instrument of surrender on behalf of the armed forces on September 2, 1945 and was thus the Army's senior representative during the surrender ceremonies on the battleship , officially ending World War II. He entered the reserves on November 30. After the war, he was arrested by the SCAP authorities and tried as a war criminal at the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conv ...

in Tokyo. He was found guilty of Counts 1, 27, 29, 31 and 32 of waging a

war of aggression A war of aggression, sometimes also war of conquest, is a military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense, usually for territorial gain and subjugation. Wars without international legality (i.e. not out of self-defense nor sanc ...

and sentenced to

on November 12, 1948. While in

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was originally built ...

, he became a convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. Umezu died from rectal cancer in 1949 while still incarcerated. JapaneseSurrender