Ishiwara Kanji

Army officer (Lieutenant General). Born in Yamagata Prefecture on January 17, 1889. Graduated from the Army Academy and the Army War College. After learning about the Xinhai Revolution in China, he became interested in reforming the Japanese nation. In 1920 (Taisho 9), he was attracted by the teachings of Tanaka Chigaku and joined the Nichiren ideological group Kokuchukai, where he gained a sense of mission to make Japan the leader of Asia and even the world. In 1922, while he was an instructor at the Army War College, he became a military attaché in Germany. Inspired by the debate between Ludendorff and Delibrigg, he realized that the future world war would be a total war of nations, a war of annihilation centered on airplanes, and when he became Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army in 1928 (Showa 3), he systematized this in "War History Grand View." From this perspective, he promoted the Manchurian Incident, the creation of "Manchukuo," and Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations. In 1935, he became Chief of the Operations Section of the General Staff, and participated in the suppression of the February 26 Incident the following year. He proposed a total war system, including the "Imperial Munitions Industry Expansion Plan," but the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War prevented this from being realized. He later came into conflict with Tojo Hideki, and was dismissed as commander of the 16th Division in March 1941. During the Pacific War, he led the right-wing organization, the East Asia League. He died on August 15, 1949.

[Ryuji Sasaki]

“Secret Record of Kanji Ishihara” written by Shinpei Yokoyama (1971, Fuyo Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陸軍軍人（中将）。明治22年1月17日山形県に生まれる。陸軍士官学校、陸軍大学校卒業。中国の辛亥(しんがい)革命を知って日本の国家改造に関心をもち、1920年（大正9）には田中智学(たなかちがく)の所説にひかれて日蓮(にちれん)主義の思想団体国柱会(こくちゅうかい)に入会し、日本をアジア、さらには世界の盟主とするという使命観を得た。1922年陸大教官在任中にドイツ駐在武官となり、ルーデンドルフとデリブリックの論争に触発されて、将来の世界戦争が国家総力戦、飛行機を中心とする殲滅(せんめつ)戦となることを察知し、1928年（昭和3）関東軍主任参謀となると、『戦争史大観』にこれを体系化した。この観点から満州事変、「満州国」創設、日本の国際連盟からの脱退などを推進した。1935年参謀本部作戦課長となり、翌1936年の二・二六事件の鎮圧にあたる。「帝国軍需工業拡充計画」など総力戦体制構想を立案したが、日中戦争が勃発(ぼっぱつ)して実現は阻まれた。その後東条英機(とうじょうひでき)と対立して1941年3月第一六師団長を罷免され、太平洋戦争中は右翼団体東亜連盟を指導した。昭和24年8月15日没。

［佐々木隆爾］

『横山臣平著『秘録石原莞爾』（1971・芙蓉書房）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例