was a major general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the Pacific campaign in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

A native of

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

, Shōji graduated from 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 1912. He subsequently graduated from the Army Staff College in 1912.Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II Shōji was promoted to rank of colonel on August 1, 1939. Beginning in 1941, he commanded the

230th Infantry Regiment, sometimes called the ''Shōji Detachment'', which was part of the 38th Division. From February through March 1942, this unit participated in the invasion of Java as part of the

Netherlands East Indies campaign The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces of the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied forces attempted unsuccessfully t ...

. There, his unit captured an airfield on the day of his landing in the Battle of Kalijati and later launched a successful gamble to break through Dutch fortifications surrounding

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

in the Battle of Tjiater Pass, leading to the Dutch capitulation. In October 1942, he and his regiment were deployed to

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

as part of the strategically significant

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...

. After participating to a minor degree in the

Battle for Henderson Field The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal or Battle of Lunga Point by the Japanese, took place from 23 to 26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle ...

, Shōji's regiment took heavy losses in the Koli Point action, Carlson's patrol, and

Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse, part of which is sometimes called the Battle of the Gifu, took place from 15 December 1942 to 23 January 1943 and was primarily an Engagement (military), engagement between U ...

. Surviving the Japanese defeat in the campaign and withdrawal from Guadalcanal, Shōji was promoted to major general in March 1944. After his return to the

Japanese home islands The is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and cons ...

in 1945, he was appointed commander of the Sendai Area Command under the Japanese Fifth Area Army in the final stages of World War II. In the aftermath of the war, Shōji was sent to Batavia to stand trial for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

committed against

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and civilians by men under his command in the Netherlands East Indies, and he was sentenced to death in January 1949. His sentence was reduced in December to 10 years of imprisonment, and he was sent to

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 23 special wards, ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was orig ...

in Tokyo. He died in December 1974.

Notes

References

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External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shoji, Toshinari 1890 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from Miyagi Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Japanese people convicted of war crimes Japanese prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by the Netherlands