Jo Iimura
Iimura Jō (Japanese饭 村 穣; born May 20, 1888 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, † February 21, 1976 ) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army.
Life
Born in Ibaraki Prefecture Iimura closed in 1909 the Imperial Japanese Army Academy from and joined the 3rd Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Guard. At the same time he attended the Foreign Languages University Tokyo, on its financial statements he made in French in March 1917. Subsequently, he attended the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, which he left in 1919 at the rank of captain of infantry. After a brief use in the Chosen Army, he served as an instructor at the Army Staff College. After a promotion to lieutenant colonel, he was sent as a military attaché in Turkey.
After his return to Japan Iimura was promoted to colonel in August 1932 and served on several staff positions within the Imperial Japanese General Staff. In March 1935, he received his first field command with the command of the 61st Infantry Regiment.
Shortly before the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was promoted to major general in March 1937. From 1938-1939 he was commander of the Army Staff College before he was transferred to Manchukuo to become Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, a position he held until the end of 1940. He then moved to 1943 to also stationed in Manchukuo 5th Army, where he was commander in chief.
Iimura in 1943 was ordered back to Japan, where he was again commander of the Army Staff College. In 1944 however, he was again moved to the front, where he first Chief of Staff of the Army of the South, and then commander of the 2nd Regional Army until 1945, which was stationed in Sulawesi.
Shortly before the war he returned to Japan to take command of the defense force Tokyo and the Tokyo District Division to take over and thus counteract the feared Allied invasion. Immediately prior to the surrender of Japan, he was still appointed Marshal of the Military Police.