Kenkichi Ueda

Kenkichi Ueda (植田 謙吉) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He played an active role in the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars of the late 1930s.

Biography
Born in the Osaka prefecture, Ueda graduated from the 10th class Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1898, and the 21st class of the Army Staff College in 1908. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Brigade under the IJA 18th Division, and was later transferred to the IJA 16th Division. Serving as a staff officer in the Siberian Expeditionary Army in 1918, Ueda was promoted to colonel by the following year.

Assigned command of a regiment in 1923, Ueda was promoted to major general in 1924 and was assigned as commanding officer of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade.

Promoted to lieutenant general in 1928, the following year Ueda became commander in chief of the Japanese China Garrison Army which he served as commanding officer until 1930. As commander of the IJA 9th Division from 1930–1932, Ueda's forces were involved in much of the fighting against Chinese forces during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.

Ueda lost a leg in the 29 April 1932 Shanghai bombing by Korean nationalist Yoon Bong-Gil which killed his superior, General Yoshinori Shirakawa. Afterwards, Ueda returned to Japan to staff postings with the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, rising to the post of Vice Chief from 1933-1934. In 1934, Ueda became the commander in chief of the Chosen Army in Korea. A full general in 1935, Ueda returned to Manchukuo as commander in chief of the Kwantung Army from 1936-1939. In 1939, he also held the post of ambassador of Japan to Manchukuo and was a member of the Supreme War Council.

A strong believer in the “Strike North” or hokushin-ron policy that Japan's main enemy was communism and that Japan's destiny lay in conquest of the natural resources of the sparely populated north Asian mainland, Ueda supported the aggressive actions initiated by staff and field officers on the Soviet border with Manchukuo and Mongolia leading to heavy fighting and high casualties against Soviet forces around Nomonhan between May and August 1939.

Despite the disastrous results of the battles against Soviet forces, Ueda remained adamant in his support of the hokushin-ron policy and refused to discourage his officers from taking similar actions. He was recalled back to Japan in late-1939 and forced into retirement.

Retiring from public life, Ueda lived quietly through World War II, and died in 1962.