Heisuke Yanagawa

was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Japanese forces under Yanagawa's command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

Biography Born in what is now part of Nagasaki city, Nagasaki Prefecture, Yanagawa was raised in Ōita Prefecture by his adoptive parents. He graduated from the 12th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1900, and served in combat during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. He graduated from the 24th class of the Army Staff College in 1912. After serving as an instructor in the Army Cavalry School, he was appointed a military attaché to China and served as an instructor at the Beijing Army College in 1918. He later traveled to Europe as part of Japan’s delegation to the Versailles Peace Treaty negotiations, and from 1920 to 1923 was a member of Japan’s delegation to the League of Nations.