ABSTRACT
General honjo shigeru (1876–1945) was one of the ‘Five Big Generals’ produced by the ninth class of Japan's military academy: the other four were Araki Sadao, Mazaki Jinzaburo, Abe Nobuyuki, and Matsui Iwane. Honjo became famous in 1931 when, under his command, the Kwantung Army seized Manchuria (although his personal involvement in the provocation which led to that incident is still unclear). 1 In August 1932, after one year as commander of the Kwantung Army, Honjo was recalled to Tokyo, and in April 1933 he was appointed chief aide-de-camp to Emperor Hirohito, a post he held until March 1936, when he was forced to retire from active service after his son-in-law, Captain Yamaguchi Ichitaro, was involved in the February 26 Rebellion. During the following years, he did not play any significant role, serving for the most part as head of a relief organization for disabled war veterans. He committed suicide in November 1945, after having been designated a war criminal by General MacArthur.
