Talk:Masanobu Tsuji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Masanobu Tsuji article.
Article policies

Contents

[edit] Accuracy and tone

Cannibalizing soldiers? Eaten by a tiger at the Plain of Jars? Assassinations? I'd like some pointers to proof of this stuff. Article seems very sensationalistic in this regard. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.36.18.129 (talk • contribs) 14:21, 5 December 2005

"She also reviewed the case of Col. Tsuji Masanobu, who was wanted by both British and Americans for various war crimes, including the brutalities against Americans during the Bataan Death March. He eluded capture, changed identities and by the '50s was elected to Japan's House of Representatives."
  • http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/iwgreport02.html - Implementation of the Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act and the Japanese War Crimes Provisions of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act-An Interim Report to Congress: Records of the Army Staff: The Investigative Records Repository (IRR)
"The 1946-1963 file of Colonel Tsuji Masanobu, who eluded capture and trial for alleged crimes against the Chinese at Singapore, and for mistreatment of Allied POWs. After returning to Japan, allegedly in disguise in 1948, but not identified until 1950, Tsuji published best selling accounts of his wartime exploits and assumed leadership of the East Asia League"
    • Records of the Central Intelligence Agency
"A series of cards, labeled Tientsin (China) and listing suspect Japanese war criminals includes the name of Lt. Colonel Tsuji for torture, murder, and cannibalism (location and victims are not given)."
  • Records of the Navy Judge Advocate General
"Eyewitness account by second generation Japanese born in Singapore, of the torture and murder of a captured American airman by a Colonel Tsuji and subsequent cannibalism of his preserved body parts. Same informant, in course of interview by Southeast Asia Translation and Interrogation Center under the supervision of the OWI, New Delhi, claimed "rape and pillage" were common among front-line soldiers fighting in China and attested to the establishment by the Japanese army of occupation in Malaysia of "licensed public comfort houses," a practice which did not prevent abuse and rape of Malaysian women."
--—Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.155.1.245 (talk • contribs) 04:37, 6 June 2006

[edit] Further War crimes

Tsuji may have also ordered the executions of Philippine government and justice officials during the initial stages of the Japanese occupation, but, I don't have any references at the moment to back that up. Cla68 03:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Tsuji's activities are mentioned in Fuller, Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai, page 111. The relevant paragraph reads: "A 14th Army staff officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Tsuji Masanobu, convinced some fellow officers that a massacre of prisoners was necessary because of racist principles. They in turn persuaded some field commanders that it was an official order although it was without the knowledge, and against the principles, of 14th Army Commander, M.HONMA."
I quote this brief source because it is right in front of me. I do not think it would be hard to find further sources documenting his role in atrocities in Malaya, Guadalcanal, and China, but I don't have those right in front of me. The bottom line is that Tsuji was a fanatical pan-Asian racist who is rightly regarded as the worst unindicted war criminal of the Pacific War. It is not acceptable that there is no hint of this in the current version of this article. 71.33.63.199 04:17, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
Tsuji is also known to have been involved in the Bataan Death March. He manipulated a divisional officer into sending out orders to the effect that all surrendering forces should be executed. Thankfully, a good number of the officers who recieved the directive refused as that order was counter to Homma's orders, but it's unknown how many did as they were told. Homma was executed after the war for what happened as he was the general in charge, but the record shows he was hopelessly out of touch about what had really been going on. --Lendorien 09:34, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Problem with article name

This article lists Tsuji's name in the Japanese manner- family name first, which is against English Wikipedia's naming convention. I'm going to move the article in accordance with the policy. Cla68 03:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Masanobu Tsuji

His book was published in English in the UK by Spellmount Ltd 1997. ISBN 1-873376-75-8. Earlier copyright 1993,1997 by Sarpendon Publishers, New York.

Title: The Mastermind behind Japan's Greatest Victory, Britain's Worst Defeat The Capture of Singapore 1942 Author: Colonel Masuanobu Tsuji Edited by: H. V. Howe, Military Secretary to the Australian Minister for the Army 1940-46 Translated by: Margaret E. Lake

First published in Japan as: Shonan: The Hinge of Fate (1952) First published in Austalia as: Singapore: The Japanese Version (1960) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.1.104.223 (talk) 22:40, 11 January 2008 (UTC)