Yoshihide Hayashi
Yoshihide Hayashi (August 25, 1891 – February 5, 1978) was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He came from Wakayama Prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1914 and the Army Staff College in 1923.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he helped plan Operation Chahar with the Kwantung Army. From 1938 to 1940, he served with Japan’s garrison forces in Taiwan. In 1940 he led the Taiwan Army Research Section, which studied tropical warfare. He was promoted to major general in 1941.
He then served as Vice Chief of Staff of the IJA 14th Area Army (1941–1942). In 1943 he took field command of the IJA 54th Division. From 1943 to 1945 he commanded the IJA 24th Independent Mixed Brigade in Burma, and in 1945 he led the IJA 53rd Division in Burma. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1945.
After Japan surrendered, Hayashi was arrested for war crimes and held at the New Bilibid Prison in the Philippines. He pleaded guilty at the Philippine War Crimes Trial, including his involvement in the murder of Chief Justice José Abad Santos, and was sentenced to life in prison. On July 4, 1953, he was pardoned by Philippine President Elpidio Quirino along with 113 other Japanese war criminals.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:28 (CET).