Gen. Seishirō Itagaki

General Itagaki served as the Chief of the Intelligence Section of the Kwantung Army and was responsible for planning Japanese Aggression into China that led to the 1931 Mukden Incident. As Minister of War, he advised the Five Ministers Conference on policies regarding Jews within the borders of Japan, Manchuria and China. His actions during the war focused primarily on Japanese expansion throughout the Asian sphere, specifically in China, Korea and Singapore. The prison camps under his direction experienced horrific conditions troops subjecting prisoners and civilians to numerous atrocities. During the trial, Itagaki was represented by American Associate Counsel Floyd J. Mattice. Hanzo Yamada served as his Japanese Chief Counsel with Tomoji Sasagawa, Junkichi Banno, Ryosuke Kanauchi, and Kenji Ohkoshi acting as his Japanese Associate Counsel. As a result of the numerous aggressive plans and atrocities Itagaki oversaw, the Tribunal found him guilty of counts 1, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, and 54. He was sentenced to death and hung at Sugamo Prison on December 23, 1948. Controversially, he was later enshrined, along with 13 other convicted defendants, at the Yasukuni Shrine.