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

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 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, known for his role as

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

under Japanese occupation.

Biography

Sakai was born in

Kamo District, Hiroshima was a district located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. On March 22, 2005, the town of Daiwa, along with the town of Hongō (from Toyota District), and the town of Kui (from Mitsugi District), was merged into the expanded city of Mihara. K ...

, now part of

Hiroshima city is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

. He was educated in military preparatory schools in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, w ...

and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and graduated from the 20th 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 ...

in 1908, whereupon he was assigned to the IJA 28th Infantry Regiment. He graduated from the 28th class of the Army Staff College.

Career in China

In 1928, Sakai was stationed in

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China with the IJA 12th Infantry Regiment during the Jinan Incident and is believed by some Chinese historians to be responsible for the murder of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

army emissaries during negotiations on May 4, 1928. He was transferred to the

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popula ...

Garrison from 1929 to 1932. In 1932, Sakai was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and was assigned to the 5th Section

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from ...

of the 2nd Bureau of the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army. Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...

from 1932 to 1934. As Chief of Staff of the

Japanese China Garrison Army The was formed 1 June 1901 as the , as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It took the name China Garrison Army from 14 April 1912 and onward, though was typically referred to as th ...

from 1934 to 1935, Sakai orchestrated a series of armed conflicts, which resulted in an armistice with the

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mi ...

which resulted in the He–Umezu Agreement which effectively gave Japan control of

Hebei Province Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

. He became commander of the IJA 23rd Infantry Regiment in 1936. Sakai was 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 a ...

in 1937 and was appointed commander of the IJA 28th Infantry Brigade. He became a

in 1939, and was assigned to the Coordination Bureau, Asia Development Group,

Mengjiang Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang or the Mongol Border Land, and governed as the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being ...

Board from 1939 to 1940. He was also assigned to the

Mongolia Garrison Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese Mongolia Garrison Army was raised on December 27, 1937 as a garrison force in Japanese-dominated Inner Mongolia and adjacent areas of north China. From ...

at this time. Recalled to Japan in 1940, Sakai was briefly appointed commander of the Imperial Guards Depot Division.

World War II

Sakai was commander of the IJA 23rd Army stationed in Canton in November 1941. He was ordered to use the

IJA 38th Division The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army, activated 30 June 1939 in Nagoya, simultaneously with the 39th, 40th and 41st Divisions. Its call sign was the . Action The division was initially assigned in October 1939 to the 2 ...

, which was normally under the

Southern Expeditionary Army Group The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It was responsible for all military operations in South East Asian and South West Pacific campaigns of World War II. Its military symbol was NA. The Southern Expedition ...

to capture

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and was given a 10-day time limit. On December 8, 1941, a few hours after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

, Japanese forces commanded by Sakai, and his Chief of Staff

Tadamichi Kuribayashi General was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, part-time writer, haiku poet, diplomat, and commanding officer of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He is best known for having been the commander of the Japanese garrison at the batt ...

, invaded

. However, the subsequent

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

did not proceed as quickly or as smoothly as Sakai had planned, and he was forced to request an extension to his deadline. Sir Mark Young, the

, surrendered all British forces in Hong Kong on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, after 18 days of fighting. Sakai’s frustrations over the unexpectedly strong British resistance may have been reflected by the extreme brutality which characterized the campaign and subsequent occupation. Sakai served as Japanese

until February 20, 1942. He was recalled to Japan, and retired from active service in 1943. He was recalled to active service in February 1945, and was ordered to go to Beijing; however, the war came to an end before he departed Japan.

Execution

After the end of the war, Sakai was apprehended by the American occupation authorities at the request of the Chinese government and was extradited to China, where he was accused of war crimes. He was convicted at the

Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal The Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal was established in 1946 by the government of Chiang Kai-shek to judge Imperial Japanese Army officers accused of crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of ten tribunals established by the ...

on August 27, 1946 of

command responsibility Command responsibility (superior responsibility, the Yamashita standard, and the Medina standard) is the legal doctrine of hierarchical accountability for war crimes.

for the extrajudicial murder of Chinese civilians and was

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...

on September 30.Stein, ''Trial of Takashi Sakai''

References

Footnotes

Sources

; Books * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Takashi Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of World War II 1887 births 1946 deaths Japanese occupation of Hong Kong Japanese people convicted of war crimes Executed military personnel Executed Japanese people People executed by the Republic of China by firing squad Japanese people executed abroad Governors of Hong Kong People executed for war crimes Military personnel from Hiroshima Prefecture 20th-century Hong Kong people