Prince Kan'in Kotohito


Prince Kan'in Kotohito was the sixth head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940. During his tenure as the Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, the Imperial Japanese Army committed numerous war crimes against Chinese civilians including the Nanjing Massacre and the systemic use of chemical and bacteriological weapons. Prince Kan'in Kotohito died several months before the end of the Second World War.

Early years

Prince Kotohito was born in Kyoto on November 10, 1865, as the sixteenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie. His father was the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family which were eligible to succeed to the throne if the main line should die out. Since the infant mortality rate in the main imperial household was quite high, Emperor Kōmei, the father of Emperor Meiji, adopted Prince Kotohito as a potential heir. Prince Kotohito was thus the adopted brother of Emperor Meiji and a great uncle to both Emperor Shōwa and his consort, Empress Kōjun.
Prince Kotohito was initially sent to Sambō-in monzeki temple at the age of three to be raised as a Buddhist monk, but was selected in 1872 to revive the Kan'in-no-miya, another of the shinnōke households, which had gone extinct upon the death of the fifth head, Prince Naruhito.

Marriage and family

On December 19, 1891, Prince Kotohiko married Sanjō Chieko, a daughter of Prince Sanjō Sanetomi. The couple had seven children: five daughters and two sons.
  1. Prince Kan'in Atsuhito
  2. Princess Kan'in Yukiko
  3. Princess Kan'in Shigeko
  4. Princess Kan'in Sueko
  5. Prince Kan'in Haruhito
  6. Princess Kan'in Hiroko
  7. Princess Kan'in Hanako

Early military career

Prince Kan'in entered the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1877 and graduated in 1881. Emperor Meiji sent him as a military attaché to France in 1882 to study military tactics and technology. He graduated from the Army Staff College in 1894, specializing in cavalry. He commanded the 1st Cavalry Regiment from 1897 to 1899.
Kan'in became a veteran of both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. He was appointed to command the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in 1901. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general in 1905 and became the commander of the IJA 1st Division in 1906, and the Imperial Guard Division in 1911. He was promoted to the rank of full general and became a Supreme War Councilor in 1912. He was further promoted to become the youngest field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919. In 1921, he accompanied then-Crown Prince Hirohito on his tour of Western Europe.

Career in the Imperial General Headquarters

On December 1, 1931, Prince Kan'in became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, replacing General Kanaya Hanzo. During his tenure, the Imperial Japanese Army committed many war crimes against Chinese civilians including the Nanjing massacre and the systemic use of chemical and bacteriological weapons.
As Chief of the General Staff, Kan'in authorized the use of chemical weapons in China, such as tear gas, which were used sporadically in 1937. In the spring of 1938, he further authorized the use of sneezing gas. Later, in the summer of 1939, he approved the use of mustard gas against both Kuomintang and Communist Chinese troops. On 28 July 1937, Prince Kan'in transmitted to the Army the emperor's first directive authorizing the use of chemical weapons on July 28, 1937. He transmitted a second order on September 11 authorizing the deployment of special chemical warfare units to Shanghai. On April 11, 1938, Directive Number 11 was issued in his name, authorizing further use of poison gas in Inner Mongolia.
In Shanxi Province, poisonous gases were used to counter the guerilla warfare of the 8th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. Large amounts of sneezing gas were utilized against the Chinese National Revolutionary Army at the Battle of Wuhan and in the Central China region. Lethal blister gases, such as yperite and lewisite, were deployed by Japanese forces after 1939.
In July 1940, he forced the resignation of War Minister General Shunroku Hata, thus bringing down the cabinet of Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonai. The Prince was also a participant in the liaison conferences between the military chiefs of staff and the second cabinet of Prince Fumimaro Konoe. Both he and Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, the newly appointed War Minister, supported the Tripartite Pact and Anti-Comintern Pact between the Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations: