was a general 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 ...

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 ...

. Japanese forces under Yanagawa's command committed the 1937

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

Biography

Born in what is now part of

Nagasaki city is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

Nagasaki prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

, Yanagawa was raised in

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumam ...

by his adoptive parents. He graduated from the 12th 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 1900, and served in combat during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905. He graduated from the 24th 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 ...

in 1912. After serving as an instructor in the Army Cavalry School, he was appointed a

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and served as an instructor at the Beijing Army College in 1918. He later traveled to Europe as part of Japan’s delegation to the

Versailles Peace Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

negotiations, and from 1920 to 1923 was a member of Japan’s delegation to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. Around this time, he became involved in internal politics within the Japanese Army, and joined the

Kodaha 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 ideals, ...

Faction, led by

Sadao Araki Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. As one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the polit ...

, Jinsaburo Mazaki and

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 ...

. From 1923 to 1925, Yanagawa was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

officer, and rose steadily through the ranks from commanding the IJA 20th Cavalry Regiment in 1923, the IJA 1st Cavalry Brigade by 1927, the Cavalry School from 1929, to Inspector-General of Cavalry in 1930. 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 ...

in December 1931. From 1932 to 1934, Yanagawa served as Vice-Minister of War. He was subsequently given a field posting as commander of the prestigious

IJA 1st Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garrison h ...

from 1934 to 1935. He commanded the

Taiwan Army of Japan The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army recruited from, and stationed on, the island of Taiwan as a garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in ...

from 1935 to 1936, before his retirement on September 26, 1936. However, with 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 ...

, Yanagawa was recalled to active service and assigned command of the IJA 10th Army in China in 1937–1938. The 10th Army comprised the

18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

and 114th divisions from Japan, the

IJA 6th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . Actions The 6th Division was formed in Kumamoto City on 12 May 1888, as one of the new divisions to be created after the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese ...

from North China, and the Kunisaki Detachment of the

IJA 5th Division The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 5th Division was formed in Hiroshima in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. Its personnel we ...

, and landed in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

on November 5, 1937. Yanagawa led his troops in pursuit of Chinese forces fleeing from the Shanghai area, and was in command of one of the main Japanese columns at the

Battle of Nanjing The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Rep ...

. His troops were later implicated in the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

, but Yanagawa was repelled by the events. Yanagawa retired again from active military service in 1938, becoming Chief of the General Affairs Bureau,

East Asia Development Board The East Asia Development Board, or , was a cabinet level agency in the Empire of Japan that operated between 1938 and 1942. It was created on 18 November 1938 under the first Konoe administration to coordinate the government's China policy. It was ...

. Under the political patronage of Baron

Hiranuma Kiichirō was a prominent right-wing Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan in 1939. He was convicted of war crimes committed during World War II and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Early life Hiranuma was born in what is now Tsuyama Ci ...

, and with support from the ''

zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signi ...

'' groups, he took over the

Justice Ministry A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

from Akira Kazami. During this post in government he led the

Keishicho The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission (Japan), National Public Safety Commission, and ...

(Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department). Yanagawa was a supporter of State Shintoism, along with General

Kuniaki Koiso 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 lif ...

and Hiranuma Kiichirō, and in the creation of the

Shintoist Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

Rites Research Council. He was also a leader in the ''

Taisei Yokusankai The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling organization during much of World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his ("New Order") movement. It evolved i ...

'' (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) group. In a 1985 interview of Yoshinaga Sunao who was a Staff Officer of the Japanese 10th Army, Sunao described Yanagawa as a "Great man who had his deepest respect" as well as a "Reticent and quiet hero". Further into the interview, it was stated by Sunao that Yanagawa loved China and while on the road to Nanjing, he personally said to his Staff officers that it wasn't desirable for Japan and China to have to fight each other, however, as a soldier, he felt it was still his duty to fight and as such readily marched on Nanjing.Ken'ichi, Ara. The Nanjing Incident: Japanese Eyewitness Accounts - Testimony from 48 Japanese Who Were There

Biography

References

Further reading