Nobuyoshi Mutō

Biography

Nobuyoshi Mutō came from a samurai family in the Saga Domain. After graduating from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, he served as a lieutenant in the infantry during the First Sino-Japanese War. Following the war and his promotion to captain, he was sent twice to Russia as a military attaché, based in Vladivostok and later Odessa. His fluency in Russian proved invaluable during the Russo-Japanese War. After promotion to major, then colonel, he returned to Japan for a posting with the Imperial Guards. From 1915 to 1916, he was Chief of 2nd Section (Maneuvers), 1st Bureau, Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. In 1917, he moved to military intelligence, heading the Harbin Special Agency and operational offices in Irkutsk and Omsk. He returned to administrative positions in Japan from 1919 to 1921, then commanded the IJA 3rd Division in 1921 and was dispatched to Russia during the Siberian Expedition against the Bolshevik Red Army. With the death of General Taro Utsunomiya in 1922, Mutō became leader of the Saga clique, which included Sadao Araki, Jinzaburō Masaki, and Heisuke Yanagawa—later core members of the Kōdōha. During the 1920s, the group joined forces with Marshal Yūsaku Uehara to oppose the mainstream Ugaki faction. Mutō returned to Japan in 1922 as Vice Chief of the General Staff under Uehara, leaving in 1925. He was a member of the Supreme War Council from 1925 to 1926, briefly commanded Tokyo Defense Command, then served as Commander in Chief of the Kwantung Army from 28 July 1926 to 26 August 1927. He was then appointed Inspector-General of Military Training. In 1930, upon the retirement of General Sōroku Suzuki, Uehara tried to promote Mutō to Chief of General Staff. Mutō was widely admired and a strong campaign arose for his appointment, but Ugaki forced the appointment of his protege Hanzō Kanaya. Mutō was reappointed commander of the Kwantung Army in 1932, and as ambassador signed the Japan-Manchukuo Protocol of September 1932. In 1933, he supervised Operation Nekka, the invasion of Jehol, and was promoted to Gensui. Diagnosed with jaundice, he died in a hospital in Xinjing, Manchukuo. His title of baron was posthumous, as were his awards of the Order of the Golden Kite (1st class) and Order of the Rising Sun (1st class). His grave is at Gokoku-ji in Tokyo, and the sword from his promotion to gensui is on display at the Yūshūkan Museum at Yasukuni Shrine.