Yamashita Tomoyuki, General (1885–1946),Japanese Army officer who was the conqueror of Malaya and Singapore, and who in 1944–5 defended the Philippines against
MacArthur's forces (see
Philippines campaigns).
The son of a village doctor, Yamashita was born on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's main islands. He passed out fifth from the Central Military Academy in Tokyo in 1908 and by 1926 he was a colonel. He seemed destined for high command and was promoted maj-general, but his role in an attempted military coup in 1936 incurred Emperor
Hirohito's displeasure. He was removed from the promotions lists and sent to command a brigade in Korea and was later transferred to Manchukuo. However, his reputation continued to grow and the promotion ban was eventually lifted. He was promoted lt-general in November 1937, and in July 1940 was recalled to Tokyo to replace
Tōjō as inspector-general of air aviation when Tōjō became war minister. But Tōjō was an old political enemy—the two men belonged to rival military factions—and Yamashita soon found himself heading a military mission to Germany. On his return in March 1941 he was again dispatched to Manchukuo, this time to command the
Kwantung Army, a banishment that lasted until November 1941 when he was appointed to command the Twenty-fifth Army for the invasion of Malaya.
Yamashita's
Malayan campaign, culminating in the
fall of Singapore in February 1942, made him a national hero. But he did not revel in his success as many would have done. He treated his
prisoners-of-war humanely and when asked the date of his victory march into Singapore replied tersely that there would be no parade but that ‘a funeral ceremony is fixed for 20 February’. As a victorious general he was now entitled to expect a further major role in the war, an interview with the emperor, and the acclaim of his people. Instead, Tōjō saw to it that he was appointed to what was virtually a non-operational (although strategically vital) command of First Army Group in Manchukuo, was refused an audience with the emperor, and was ordered to travel direct to Manchukuo so that he would not receive a public welcome in Japan.
Though promoted general in 1943 Yamashita remained in Manchukuo until Tōjō fell from power and he was then given command of Fourteenth Area Army in the Philippines. He flew to Tokyo, obtained his long-desired interview with the emperor, and then flew on to Manila, arriving there on 5 October 1944. But his appointment had come too late to prepare properly for the American onslaught and by July 1945 he and his headquarters staff had been reduced to hiding in the mountains from the advancing Americans. On 2 September he left his staff and walked to the American lines to sign the document of surrender and to go into captivity.
In October 1945 he was tried by the US Military Commission for permitting the barbarous acts committed against the civilian population during the defence of Manila. Despite having no idea that they had occurred—they were, anyway, committed by naval troops probably not under his direct command—Yamashita was found guilty and sentenced to death. MacArthur refused to consider his appeal, and the civilian courts felt unable to uphold it; after his proposed execution had been described by the two dissenting Supreme Court judges as ‘legalized lynching’, he was hanged.
Yamashita was described by one of his contemporaries as halfway between clever and cunning. He was a gifted general, probably the best Japan had. Ruthlessly ambitious and physically gross, he was nevertheless very fastidious and highly emotional.
Bibliography
Barker, A. , Yamashita (New York, 1973).
Potter, J. , A Soldier must hang: the Biography of an Oriental General (London, 1963).
