Wednesday, June 15 1921: Sojiro Kojima appointed to the vice-General Directorate of Education.

1921 (Taisho 10) Wednesday, June 15 There was a personnel reshuffle of Army cadres. The other day, on June 9, Minister of Army Giichi Tanaka resigned, and Hanzo Yamanashi, who had served as Vice-Minister of Army under Tanaka, was promoted to the succeeding Minister of Army. It was Tanaka’s strong wish that Yamanashi became Minister of War. Minobu Omi, who was the head of the educational affairs office, was transferred to replace Yamanashi as vice minister. The post of Director General of the Office of Education is the second most important post in the Army to assist the Important Post-Office of Education, one of the three deputies of the Army. The superintendent general at that time was AKIYAMA Yoshifuru who was famous for “Sakanoue no Kumo” (Clouds over the Hill) by SHIBA Ryotaro.

The post of the Director-General of the General Directorate of Education, which was vacant due to the relocation of Ono, was filled by Lieutenant General Sojiro Kojima, who was the commander of the Sagalen Expeditionary Force, which was an important part of the Siberian Expedition at that time. Kojima’s appointment was strongly intended by Hanzo Yamanashi, the new Minister of War. In fact, in 1922 (Taisho 11), Kojima assumed a vice minister of the army to assist Yamanashi. Together with Yamanashi, he pursued the Army’s first disarmament since the Army’s founding, known as Yamanashi Disarmament. However, Kojima died in October of the same year, only five months after assuming the position. Kojima’s successor was Yoshinori Shirakawa, commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force in the First Shanghai Incident, who died in the Shanghai Tenchosetsu Bombing.

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