Hisaichi Terauchi Count was a " Gensui " ( or Marshal ) in the Imperial Japanese Army and Commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II . Biography . Terauchi was born in Yamaguchi prefecture , and was the eldest son of " Gensui " Count Terauchi Masatake , the first Governor - General of Korea and the 9th Prime Minister of Japan . He graduated from the 11th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1900 , and served in the Russo - Japanese War . After the war , Terauchi returned to the Army Staff College and graduated from the 21st class in 1909 . He spent time in as a military attaché in Germany and worked as a lecturer at the Military Academy . In early November 1919 , he succeeded to the hereditary title of " hakushaku " ( count ) under the " kazoku " peerage system , upon the death of his father , and was raised in military rank to colonel . He became a major general in 1924 . In September 1926 , the Sanyō Main Line train he was riding on derailed in an accident that killed 34 people , but Terauchi was not injured . Count Terauchi became Chief of Staff of the Chosen Army in Korea in 1927 . After his promotion to lieutenant general in 1929 , he was assigned command of the IJA 5th Division and later transferred to the IJA 4th Division in 1932 . In 1934 , he became commander of the Taiwan Army of Japan . In October 1935 Terauchi was promoted to full general and became involved with the " Kodoha " faction in military politics . After the February 26 Incident in 1936 he was the army ' s choice as War Minister , which further intensified the conflict between the military and the civilian political parties in the Japanese Diet . The 2nd Count Terauchi returned to combat duty when he was given command of the North China Area Army immediately after the outbreak of the Second Sino - Japanese War . He was awarded the 1st class Order of the Rising Sun in 1938 , and transferred to command of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group on 6 November 1941 and soon afterwards began devising war plans with Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku for the Pacific War . After leading the conquest of Southeast Asia , Terauchi established his headquarters in Singapore . Promoted to " Gensui " ( Marshal ) on 6 June 1943 , he moved to the Philippines in May 1944 . When this area came under threat , he retreated to Saigon in French Indochina . Upon hearing of the loss of Burma by Japan , he suffered a stroke on 10 May 1945 . 680000 Japanese soldiers , in Southeast Asia were surrendered on his behalf in Singapore on 12 September 1945 by General Itagaki Seishiro . Terauchi personally surrendered to Lord Mountbatten on 30 November 1945 in Saigon and died of another stroke while in a prisoner of war camp in Malaya after the end of the war . The 2nd Count Terauchi surrendered his family heirloom " wakizashi " short sword to Lord Mountbatten in Saigon in 1945 . The sword dates from 1413 , and is now kept at Windsor Castle . It was almost the subject of a diplomatic incident in the mid - 1980s , when Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother wanted to place it on prominent display during a dinner held for Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan . However , her daughter , Queen Elizabeth II , vetoed the idea . His grave is at the Japanese Cemetery Park in Singapore .