First Carrier Division
Takasu returned to England again in December 1930 to serve as military advisor on the ambassador’s staff. He served on the court marshal of the perpetrators of the May 15 Incident in 1932. He was promoted to rear admiral on November 15, 1934 and reassigned to head the 3rd Bureau of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, which was in charge of military intelligence. An outspoken opponent to the Tripartite Alliance between Japan, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, he was a member of the naval faction led by Isoroku Yamamoto and Mitsumasa Yonai opposed to war with the western powers. From 1936-1937, he commanded the First Carrier Division, which was active in combat in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and was a naval advisor to the fledgling state of Manchukuo in 1937. Promoted to vice admiral on November 15, 1938, he then became commandant of the Naval War College. He was assigned as commander of the IJN 5th Fleet on September 29, 1939.