Draft:List of suicides in Imperial Japan

  • Comment: The importance of the list could be argued as a navigational aid but as currently presented the notability of the list is questioned by the title of the "one source" which is also problematic. The one source title is "Japanese Mass Suicides", that would include those that did so willingly or by force (ordered). This list is of individuals (and their methods), specifically relating to WWII, as opposed to actual Mass suicides and Banzai charges. The Battle of Saipan included both Banzai charges and mass suicides such as soldiers and civilians jumping off a cliff. See: Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff. I am not suggesting that a list could not be important or useful but that the title cannot be so ambiguous as to conflict with the "sourcing" and content. Otr500 (talk) 18:01, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

Hideki Tojo being resuscitated by American soldiers after his attempted suicide

This is a list of suicides in Imperial Japan. Many prominent members of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy died by suicide during the Surrender of Japan and V-J Day.[1]

Suicides occurred in the Japanese Home Islands, unless stated otherwise.

Person was a member of the Imperial Japanese Army
* Person was a member of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Died by suicide in prison custody
Person Method Location Date Age

Hatazō Adachi

Knife Rabaul, Bismarck Archipelago Sep 10, 1947 57 years, 85 days

Masahiko Amakasu

Cyanide poisoning Xinjing, Manchukuo Aug 20, 1945 54 years, 206 days

Korechika Anami

Tokyo Aug 15, 1945 58 years, 175 days

Rikichi Andō

Poisoning Shanghai, Republic of China Apr 19, 1946 62 years, 16 days

Yukio Araki

Kamikaze USS Braine (DD-630), near Okinawa May 27, 1945 17 years, 78 days

Isamu Chō

Seppuku Okinawa June 22, 1945 50 years, 154 days

Sanji Iwabuchi*

Intramuros, Manila Feb 26, 1945 49 years, 361 days

Hasuda Zenmei

Firearm Johor, British Malaya Aug 19, 1945 41 years, 42 days

Kenji Hatanaka

Firearm Tokyo Aug 15, 1945 33 years, 140 days

Shigeru Honjō

Occupied Japan Nov 30, 1945 69 years, 204 days

Kakuji Kakuta*

Tinian, Mariana Islands Aug 2, 1945 54 years, 313 days

Chikahiko Koizumi

Seppuku Tokyo Sep 13, 1945 61 years, 4 days

Shiro Makino

Seppuku Second Philippine Republic Aug 10, 1945 52 years, 114 days

Keisuke Matsuo*

Seppuku Tarawa, Gilbert Islands May 2, 1945 55 years, 0 days

Yoshimi Minami*

Kamikaze Second Philippine Republic Nov 25, 1944 28 years, 346 days

Matsuo Morizumi*

Seppuku Tokyo Sep 3, 1945 54 years, 97 days

Chūichi Nagumo*

Firearm Saipan, South Seas Mandate July 6, 1944 57 years, 103 days

Kunio Nakagawa

Seppuku Peleliu Island, Palau Nov 24, 1944 46 years, 306 days

Ryosuke Nunoi

State of Burma July 21, 1945 36 years, 184 days

Hideyoshi Obata

Seppuku Guam, United States Aug 11, 1944 54 years, 131 days

Kensaku Oda

Firearm New Guinea, Australia Jan 21, 1943 54 years, 292 days

Kiyochi Ogata

Seppuku Tinian, Mariana Islands Aug 1, 1944 Unknown

Kiyoshi Ogawa*

Kamikaze USS Bunker Hill, near Okinawa May 11, 1944 22 years, 200 days

Takijirō Ōnishi*

Kamikaze Tokyo Aug 16, 1945 54 years, 75 days

Minoru Ōta*

Firearm Okinawa June 13, 1945 54 years, 67 days

Goichi Oie*

Seppuku Tinian, Mariana Islands Aug 2, 1944 47 years, 167 days

Yoshitsugu Saitō

Seppuku Saipan, Mariana Islands July 10, 1944 53 years, 251 days

Yukio Seki*

Kamikaze Leyte Gulf, Second Philippine Republic Oct 25, 1944 23 years, 34 days

Shiba Gorō

Tokyo Dec 13, 1945 85 years, 175 days

Jirō Shiizaki

Seppuku Tokyo Aug 15, 1945 33 years, 319 days
Tatsuji Suga Borneo, Dutch East Indies Sep 16, 1945 59 years, 359 days

Hajime Sugiyama

Firearm Tokyo Sep 12, 1945 65 years, 254 days
Shizuichi Tanaka Firearm Tokyo Aug 24, 1945 57 years, 327 days

Ryōji Uehara

Kamikaze Kadena May 11, 1945 22 years, 226 days

Matome Ugaki*

Kamikaze Okinawa Aug 15, 1945 55 years, 181 days
Mitsuru Ushijima Seppuku Kagoshima June 22, 1945 57 years, 326 days

Seizō Yasunori*

Kamikaze USS Bunker Hill, near Okinawa May 11, 1945 21 years, 44 days
Teiichi Yoshimoto Tokyo Sep 14, 1945 58 years, 175 days
  1. ^ Yalman, Richard (28 July 2016). "Japanese Mass Suicides". Atomic Hertiage Foundation. Retrieved 2023-12-31.