Hisao Tani

Hisao Tani (谷 寿夫) was a Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, and was implicated in the Nanjing Massacre.

Biography
Tani was a native of Okayama Prefecture. He graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903 and from the 24th class of the Army War College. He saw service as a second lieutenant in the Imperial Guard's infantry regiment during the Russo–Japanese War. Subsequently, he was posted to Great Britain as a military attaché from 1915–18, during which time he was an official observer for the Japanese government on the combat situation on the Western Front in World War I. After his return to Japan, from 1922–24, he was attached to 6th Regiment/IJA 3rd Division.

In 1924 Tani became an instructor at the Army War College, and his texts on strategy and tactics during the Russo–Japanese War became required reading.

From 1929–32 Tani was assigned to various posts in the Imperial General Staff, and in 1932 when was made Chairman of Military Investigation. In 1933 he took command of the 2nd Imperial Guards Brigade, and in 1934, Commandant of the Tokyo Bay Fortress, and in 1935 Command of the 9th Depot Division.

From 1935–37 Tani was commanding officer of the 6th Division (Imperial Japanese Army), which was assigned to the China Expeditionary Army in December 1937 under the overall command of General Matsui Iwane. The 6th Division fought in North China during the Peiking – Hankow Railway Operation. Shipped south with the Japanese 10th Army, it took part in the end of the Battle of Shanghai, and the Battle of Nanking.

Returning to Japan at the end of 1937, Tani became Commander in Chief of the Central Defence Army until 1939 when he went into reserve and retired. In 1945, towards the end of World War II, Tani was recalled to active service and given command of the IJA 59th Army and Chugoku Army District.

Trial and Execution


After the end of World War II, the Chinese government demanded that Tani be extradited to China to stand trial for war crimes at the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal. Some historians portrayed the prosecution at the trial as incoherent and incompetent, and pointed out its alleged errors, such as the prosecution repeatedly blaming Tani for actions of the IJA 16th Division (which he did not command), instead of the IJA 6th Division, confusing events between the Battle of Shanghai and the Battle of Nanjing, and accusing Tani of atrocities on dates after which he had already been transferred back to Japan. Nevertheless, as the commander of the IJA 16th Division, General Kesago Nakajima had died in 1945, and General Matsui Iwane would be executed by the Americans after the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, Tani was the highest surviving commander in Chinese custody, and his association in Chinese minds with the Battle of Nanjing and its aftermath meant that a guilty verdict was certain. Tani was convicted of instigating, inspiring and encouraging the men under his command to stage general massacres of prisoners of war and non-combatants and to perpetrate such crimes as rape, plunder and wanton destruction of property, during the Battle of Shanghai, Battle of Nanking and early in its occupation, the Rape of Nanking, and he was consequently executed on 26 April 1947.