was a lieutenant-general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He played an important role in the Mukden Incident in 1931 and as Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union he negotiated the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941. Biography Early military career Yoshitsugu Tatekawa, born as the third son of a local official named Nozaki Yoshitaka in Niigata city, and was later adopted by another local official, Tatekawa Shuhei, whose surname he took. He went to Niigata Takada Junior High School and graduated from the 13th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, specializing in cavalry. He served as a lieutenant in the Russo-Japanese War, where in January 1905, by direct order of Field Marshal Oyama Iwao, he led a five-man cavalry squadron on a 23-day, 1200 kilometer reconnaissance mission far behind enemy lines in Manchuria. The intelligence gathered was mentioned in dispatches by General Oku Yasukata with proving invaluable intelligence leading to the Japanese victory at the Battle of Mukden. His exploits were later publicized in a number of novels and in a serialized story for the Shōnen Club youth magazine, and a fictionalized version became a movie.. After the war, he graduated from the 21st class of the Army Staff College in 1909, and worked at various administrative posts within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He was sent as a military attaché to the United Kingdom in November 1911 and to British India in July 1913. he returned to Japan briefly in January 1916, was promoted to major in May and sent back to Europe in August as a military observer embedded with the Royal Army on the front lines during World War I. He returned to Japan in March 1918, and was private secretary to Army Minister Ōshima Ken'ichi from July 1918 to July 1919, when was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Tatekawa was assigned as the official Imperial Japanese Army representative to the Japanese delegation at the League of Nations between July 1920 and December 1922. After his return to Japan Tatekawa was assigned command of the IJA 1st Cavalry Regiment in December 1922 and of the IJA 5th Cavalry Regiment from March 1923. He was promoted to colonel in August of the same year. In December 1924, he was made head of the 2nd Bureau, 4th Department (European and American Intelligence Service) of the General Staff. Politically, he was noted for his close ties