Akira Muto: Advocator for Aggressive and Expansionist Policy
By Rong Weimu
Akira Muto was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in December 1892. After graduating from the Army War College in 1920, he worked in succession for the Army Education Department and the General Staff"s Second Bureau. In 1933 he was sent to China to collect intelligence. In 1936 he was appointed Chief of the Second Section of the Kwantung Army"s General Staff.
In order to invade the province of Suiyuan, the Kwantung Army plotted to organize a puppet regime in Inner Mongolia headed by Teh Wang . In November 1936, the puppet Mongolian army mounted a massive attack against Suiyuan. General Fu Zuoyi"s defending troops rose to resist. They put the invading forces to flight, and recovered the lost Bailingmiao. Muto was the brain behind the "Suiyuan Incident." In 1937 he was appointed Chief of the Third Section of the Kwantung Army"s General Staff, in charge of making battle plans.
Advocating extending aggression war on China
The Lugouqiao Incident broke out on July 7, 1937, marking Japan"s all-out invasion of China. Muto was in an ecstasy of joy when hearing of the news.
After the war began, a chasm in opinion emerged in the Japanese General Staff. One side argued that more troops should be reserved to prepare for the war with the Soviet Union in future; the other side insisted that Japanese forces should advance southward, waging a war of quick decision to conquer China and then to invade the Pacific nations.
Muto was firmly in favor of extending the aggression war, holding that troops should be dispatched to attack north China, Qingdao and Shanghai simultaneously. At last his suggestion was adopted. The General Staff therefore recognized his worth and made an exception to allow him to have an audience with the Emperor.
After the August 13 Incident of 1937, Japanese forces mounted a large-scale offensive against Shanghai. Owing to the KMT troops" stubborn resistance, they didn"t win a quick victory as originally planned. Muto suggested dispatching reinforcements to land at the Hangzhou Bay. This plan eventually helped the Japanese army capture Shanghai. After becoming Vice Chief of Staff of the Central China Area Army, Muto further proposed to attack Nanjing. On December 1 the General Headquarters accepted his plan and issued the order to attack.
A chief culprit for Nanjing Massacre
After seizing Nanjing on December 13, the Japanese army carried out a massacre in which 300,000 Chinese people were slaughtered. Muto was one of the chief culprits responsible for the disaster. On December 17, the Central China Area Army held a stately ceremony to enter the city. Muto accompanied Commander-in-Chief Iwane Matsui to review the aggressor troops that lined up from the Zhongshan Gate to the National Government"s office building. Muto, who was then in charge of the army"s board and lodging, ordered his troops to take up quarters at will in the city. This instruction made it possible for the invaders to commit murder, rape, loot and every crime imaginable in Nanjing.
Muto was transferred in July 1938 to serve as Vice Chief of Staff of the North China Area Army, and promoted major general in October. He participated in directing the attack on the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area and five great mopping-up operations in central Hebei Province.
Pushing Japan to make war on the US, UK
In 1939 Muto became Head of Military Affairs Bureau with the Ministry of War, and began to join in planning the Pacific War. US Chief Prosecutor Joseph Keenan at the postwar International Military Tribunal for the Far East accused him to be the prime culprit in pushing Japan to make war on the US and the UK. Muto defended himself that he had no power to make decision during the war. However, Keenan cited a large number of documents to prove that within the half-a-year period before Japan"s raid upon Pearl Harbor, some dozens of meetings were held. Muto attended each of them to advocate making war with the US, and had a hand in making the operational policy in the Pacific battleground. As Japanese officer Takayoshi Tanaka testified at the tribunal: "US Secretary of State Cordell Hull issued an ultimatum to Japan on November 25, 1941. Four days later Muto flatly rejected it, saying "Japan will perish if granting the US" request. In any case Japan must fight.""
In 1942 Muto was promoted lieutenant general. He was then transferred to act as General Officer, commanding the 2nd Imperial Guards Division to invade the Philippines. In 1944 he became Chief of Staff of the 14th Area Army stationed in the Philippines. During the occupation of Southeast Asia, he committed the crime of slaughtering local people and Allied POWs.
At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the Chinese public prosecutor pointed out with indisputable facts that: "After Muto was appointed General Officer commanding the 2nd Imperial Guards Division stationed in northern Sumatra, he was responsible for the outrages committed by his troops in the occupied areas. POWs and detainees were subjected to starvation, torture and slaughter at will. Those who were wounded or ill didn"t receive any medical treatment. And he applied a genocide policy to the civilians." Although Muto defended himself in every possible way, the tribunal judged that: "In the capacity of Chief of Staff of the 14th Area Army stationed in the Philippines, Muto allowed his troops to slaughter civilians and torture or kill POWs and detainees. He"s responsible for the atrocious crimes that violated international laws on war."
The above facts demonstrate that since joining the Japanese army, Muto had energetically preached an aggressive and expansionist policy, and committed unforgivable crimes during the aggression war on China and the Pacific War. On November 4, 1948, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East named Muto a Class-A war criminal and sentenced him to be hanged. He was executed at Sugamo Prison on December 23.