Seishiro Itagaki： Chief Plotter of September 18 Incident
By Bian Xiuyue
Seishiro Itagaki was born in Iwate Prefecture on January 21， 1885. A Class-A war criminal who plotted the September 18 Incident and propped up the puppet Manchukuo regime in northeast China， he was a butcher whose hands were stained with the blood of the Chinese people.
Engaged in espionage aiming to invade China
After graduating from the Japanese Military Academy in October 1904， Itagaki went to northeast China and joined in the Japanese-Russian War. From 1913 to 1916 he studied at the Army War College.
From 1917 to 1919 he worked in the General Staff， and was sent to China to undertake espionage activities. Since 1922 he held a post in the China Section of the General Staff， and went to China more frequently. Serving as spies in China for a long time， Itagaki， Kenji Doihara and Rensuke Isogai were called three "Sinologists" in the Japanese army. On May 28， 1927 he acted as staff officer of the 33rd Brigade. On July 12 he was transferred to the headquarters of the 10th Division， and then sent to China to collect intelligence. On March 8， 1928 he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 33rd Regiment. On May 14， 1929 he acted as senior staff in the Kwantung Army. Later he became Commander-in-Chief Baron Shigeru Honjo"s right-hand man， preaching and plotting the invasion of northeast China and Inner Mongolia.
Engineering September 18 Incident
Itagaki believed that warfare was inevitable between the Kwantung Army and Chinese army stationed in the northeast. Therefore， since June 1930 he began to make a thorough survey of Harbin， Jinzhou， Lüshun and other places in that region. In March 1931 he delivered a speech at the Army Infantry School， vigorously advocating invading northeast China. On May 29 he made a further war clamor， claiming that the top priority task for Japan was dispatching troops to occupy northeast China and Inner Mongolia. On June 19 the War Ministry and the General Staff jointly drafted a plan to solve the Manchuria and Inner Mongolia issue by taking military action the next spring. However， the General Staff of the Kwantung Army held that they should get moving immediately. Backed by the General Headquarters， Itagaki and Kanji Ishiwara decided together to blast a section of the South Manchurian Railway at Liutiaohu north of Shenyang， using it as a pretext to invade the capital of Liaoning Province and further seize the entire northeast China. At about 10 p.m. on September 18， 1931， in compliance with Honjo"s confidential order， the Kwantung Army blast railway tracks at Liutiaohu， and falsely accused the Chinese army of destroying the railway. One hour later， Japanese forces mounted a large-scale offensive against Beidaying where the Chinese Northeastern Army was stationed. Hence the September 18 Incident broke out. Japanese aggressors took a significant step toward their occupation of the entire northeast.
