was a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

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

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, Japanese forces under Nakajima's command committed the 1937

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

Biography

A native of

Oita prefecture Oita often refers to: * Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan *Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture Oita or Ōita may also refer to: Places * Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan *Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadi ...

, Nakajima attended military preparatory schools as a youth, and graduated from the 15th 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 1903. He served in combat in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. After the war, he attended the

Army War College (Japan) The ; Short form: of the Empire of Japan was founded in 1882 in Minato, Tokyo to modernize and Westernize the Imperial Japanese Army. Much of the empire's elite including prime ministers during the period of Japanese militarism were graduates o ...

, and graduated from the 25th class in 1913. From July 1918 to May 1923, he was stationed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

. He was promoted to major general in April 1932 and was appointed commander of the Maizuru Army District, responsible for the defenses of Honshū’s coast along the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. Nakajima served as commandant of the

Narashino is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is loca ...

Chemical Warfare School from 1933 to 1936. In March 1936, he was promoted to

and was appointed a Provost Marshal. With the start of the

, Nakajima was appointed commander of the IJA 16th Division, and participated in the Second Shanghai Incident and operations in

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Under the elderly General Iwane Matsui, Nakajima was named Operational Commander in 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 Nanjing ( zh, c=南京, p=Nánjīng), the ca ...

in late-1937 and was thus the senior officer (aside from the nominal commander in chief Prince Asaka) at the time of the

Nanjing massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

. Nakajima personally loaned his sword to be used in the killings at Nanjing, and laughed as he and his men carried out the massacres. Nakaijma was subsequently at the

Battle of Wuhan The Battle of Wuhan (; ), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defence of Wuhan (), and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui, Henan ...

before being transferred to take command of the Japanese Fourth Army in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

from 1938 to 1939. Recalled to Japan in 1939, Nakajima retired in September 1939 and died in October 1945 of illness.

References

Books

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External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Kesago 1881 births 1945 deaths Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Ōita Prefecture Nanjing Massacre perpetrators