Draft:List of suicides in Imperial Japan

• Comment: The reliance on limited sourcing is problematic, Additionally, the scope of the list is too broadly defined. It appears to be a "List of suicides in Imperial Japan related to WW2" though doubtless a better title will exist on putative acceptance.
  However, there have been suicides as noted by Otr500 of people not in the military in combat areas, and suicided of people on Japan itself, civilian and military.
  I do not believe yet that this can be a valid article. 🇵🇸‍🇺🇦 Fiddle^Timtrent Faddle^Talk to me 🇺🇦‍🇵🇸 08:41, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

• 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)

---

See also: List of suicides in Nazi Germany

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

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 (IJA) and Imperial Japanese Navy died by suicide during the Surrender of Japan and V-J Day.^[1] At certain battles such as the Battle of Okinawa, the IJA forced civilians into committing suicide.^[2]

Suicides occurred in the Japanese Home Islands, unless stated otherwise. Failed suicide attempts, such as by former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo^[3], are not included on this list.

	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

References

1. Yalman, Richard (28 July 2016). "Japanese Mass Suicides". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
2. Yamanaka, Yoshichika (25 July 2022). "Survivor of mass suicide in Okinawa during WWII dies at 93". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
3. "How the Army and the media broke up a Japanese war criminal's suicide attempt". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 25 July 2022.