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

Japanese Imperial 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 ...

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 opposing ...

. He was commander of the Japanese garrison in

Chichijima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

, and was later tried and executed for the Chichijima incident, a war crime involving

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

extrajudicial execution An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...

and cannibalism of American prisoners of war.

Biography

Early life and military career

Tachibana was a native of

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

. After graduating from a private school, he attended the 25th class of

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 ...

and graduated in 1913. He had a relatively undistinguished early career as an officer. From September 1916 to January, he studied gymnastics at the Army Toyama School. He was promoted to captain in August 1923 and in March 1924 commanded a battalion of the IJA 12th Infantry Regiment. He subsequently served on the staff of the IJA 11th Division and was sent as an Army representative to the Takamatsu Commercial High School. He became a major in August 1930 and lieutenant colonel in August 1935. During the mid-1930s he was assigned to 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 ...

as a liaison officer. In August 1939, he was given command of the IJA 65th Infantry Regiment, which saw combat at the

Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang The Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang, also known as the Battle of Zaoyi (), was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Background The Japanese were seek ...

in the

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 ...

. In 1942, Tachibana was assigned to the staff of the Hiroshima regional defense command, and 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 March 1943. In May 1944, he became commander of the IJA 1st Independent Combined Brigade, which was tasked with the defense of the

against invasion by American forces in the preliminary preparations to Operation Downfall. He was further promoted to

on March 23, 1945 and given command of the IJA 109th Division.

World War II

By mid-1945, due to the Allied

naval blockade A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

, the 25,000 Japanese troops on

had run low on supplies. However, although the daily ration of rice had been reduced from 400g per person a day to 240g, the troops were in no risk of starvation. In what later came to be called the Chichijima incident, and February/March 1945 Tachibana's senior staff turned to cannibalism. Nine American airmen escaped from their planes after being shot down during bombing raids on Chichijima, eight of whom were captured. The ninth, the only one to evade capture, was future US President George H. W. Bush, then a 20-year-old pilot. Over a period of several months, the prisoners were executed, and allegedly by the order of Tachibana, who was known to his staff as a sadistic, alcoholic commander, their bodies were butchered by the division's medical orderlies and the livers and other organs consumed by the senior staff."Unthinkable Crime"
''Time'', September 16, 1946. Yoshio Tachibana surrender

At the end of the war, Tachibana and his staff were arrested by the American occupation authorities and were deported 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 ...

, where they stood trial for war crimes in connection with the Chichijima Incident in August 1946. However, as cannibalism was not covered under

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the time, Tachibana was charged with "prevention of honorable burial". Tachibana was sentenced to death by hanging along with four other defendants. He and the other defendants executed were buried in unmarked graves on Guam.

Decorations

* 1945 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class 『官報』第5427号「叙任及辞令」February 19, 1945

References

* * * *

External links

Surrender of Bonin Islands, September 3, 1945

Researching Japanese War Crimes - Introductory Essays (pp. 102-110)
Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records. Interagency Working Group, Washington DC, 2006.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tachibana, Yoshio 1890 births 1947 deaths Executed Japanese mass murderers Executed military leaders Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Ehime Prefecture Japanese cannibals Japanese people executed abroad Japanese people executed for war crimes People executed by the United States military by hanging Perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class