Masanobu Tsuji

Masanobu Tsuji (辻 政信, Tsuji Masanobu; 11 October 1902 – disappeared c. 1961) was a Japanese army officer and politician. During World War II, he was an important tactical planner in the Imperial Japanese Army and developed the detailed plans for the successful Japanese invasion of Malaya at the start of the war. He also helped plan and lead the final Japanese offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign.

A Pan-Asianist, Tsuji pressured Asian countries to support Japan in World War II, despite being involved in atrocities such as the Bataan Death March and Sook Ching mass killings. He meticulously planned the mass murders in Singapore and surrounding regions, personally overseeing the Pantingan River massacre. He also once cannibalized a downed Allied airman. Tsuji evaded prosecution for Japanese war crimes at the end of the war and hid in Thailand. He returned to Japan in 1949 and was elected to the Diet as an advocate of renewed militarism. Through the 50's he worked for American intelligence alongside Takushiro Hattori. In 1961, he disappeared on a trip to Laos.

Tsuji was among the most aggressive and influential Japanese militarists. He was a leading proponent of the concept of gekokujō, (literally "the bottom overthrowing the top") by acting without or contrary to authorization. He incited the 1939 border clash with the Soviet Union and was a vehement advocate of war against the United States. According to historian John W. Dower, Tsuji was a "fanatical ideologue and pathologically brutal staff officer".