Kiyonao Ichiki
Japanese general (1892–1942)
Kiyonao Ichiki (一木 清直, Ichiki Kiyonao; 16 October 1892 – 21 August 1942) was an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II. Ichiki commanded the 28th Infantry Regiment "Ichiki detachment" in the Battle of the Tenaru. The regiment was disastrously defeated by the 1st Marine Regiment and of the 917 soldiers of Ichiki's 1st echelon, only 128 survived. Ichiki was either killed during the final stages of the battle, or performed ritual suicide (seppuku) shortly thereafter.
Biography
Early life
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Ichiki graduated from the 28th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1916. He subsequently served two tours as an instructor at the Imperial Army's Infantry School in Chiba.
War in China
Promoted to major in 1934, Ichiki was assigned to the China Garrison Army as a battalion commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1936. On 7 July 1937, the Japanese conducted a practice night attack around the Marco Polo Bridge, firing blanks in the air. The Chinese, thinking an attack was underway, fired a few ineffectual artillery shells. A Japanese soldier failed to show up for roll call the next morning, and Ichiki, his company commander, thought that the Chinese had captured him. He ordered an immediate attack on Wanping, precipitating the first real battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
“Kiyonao Ichiki” enters the record as japanese general (1892–1942). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kiyonao, Ichiki and Japanese can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1149636. VIAF identifies the subject as 2370153895175702410000. The Library of Congress control number is n2018056867. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1942, 1916 and 1934.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kiyonao Ichiki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.