Shunroku Hata was born in 1879. He was Minister of War from 1939 to July 1940 and was strongly in favour of Japanese domination over East Asia and some areas of Southern Asia.
From March 1941 to November 1944, Hata acted as Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Force, thereby contributing to the war of aggression against the latter country.
Wide-scale atrocities were committed during that period by the troops placed under his command.
