Sanji Iwabuchi Biography . Iwabuchi was a native of what is now part of the city of Sanjō , Niigata . He graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in December 1915 ranked 13th out of 96 cadets , and on graduation continued on to naval artillery school to become a specialist in that field . He served as a midshipman on the cruiser , which made a long distance navigational training voyage to Hong Kong , Singapore , Australia , New Zealand and the South Pacific Mandate in 1915 . As an ensign in 1918 , he was assigned to the cruiser and as a first lieutenant he was assigned to the destroyer " Umikaze " in 1919 . In 1920 , after completion of Torpedo Warfare School , he was assigned to the Yokosuka Air Group until the end of 1922 . In the 1930s , Iwabuchi served as chief gunnery officer on a number of vessels , including the cruisers in 1930 , in 1931 , and in 1932 , and the battleship in 1933 . In 1934 - 1935 , he was assigned to Kure Naval District and was in charge of coastal artillery . Iwabuchi was promoted to captain in November 1937 , and was given command of the seaplane tender in 1938 . In April 1941 he was assigned command of the training vessel . World War II . At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , Iwabuchi was captain of the seaplane tender . He was reassigned to the staff of the Combined Fleet on 25 March 1942 , and was subsequently given command of the battleship on 20 April 1942 . However , " Kirishima " was sunk at the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November of the same year . A week later , on 22 November , Iwabuchi was reassigned to command the 11th Air Fleet in charge of air operations over Guadacanal and Rabaul . Iwabuchi returned to the Yokosuka Naval District on 10 February 1943 , and was promoted to rear admiral on 1 May . On 5 May , he was assigned to the Personnel and Recruiting Department at Maizuru Naval District . This would normally have been a dead - end position to his career ; however , the increasing desperate war situation provided Iwabuchi with a final opportunity . On 1 November 1944 , he was given command of the 3rd Southern Escort Fleet and on 17 November , its accompanying ground force , the 31st Naval Base Force , and order to the Philippines , which were then under impending threat of Allied invasion . Iwabuchi was assigned command of the defenses of the city of Manila . Once American forces had landed on Luzon and had begun converging on Manila , the Japanese supreme commander for operations in the Philippines , Lt . - General Tomoyuki Yamashita gave Iwabuchi a direct order to withdraw from Manila without combat . Yamashita wanted to consolidate his forces , and to avoid being trapped in urban warfare in downtown Manila with close to a million civilians . However , Iwabuchi repeatedly refused to obey orders . Citing shame at having lost " Kirishima " , Iwabuchi stated that he could redeem himself only by holding his position to the death . Together with the underequipped and ill - disciplined 15 , 000 marines and 4 , 000 Imperial Japanese Army stragglers under his command , he found several good defensive positions in the historic Intramuros area of the old city of Manila , including the massive walls of colonial Fort Santiago . During the Allied artillery bombardment of Iwabuchi ’ s positions , thousands of civilians were killed . Thousands more were killed in the crossfire , and thousands were killed by Japanese forces in reprisal for the Allied attacks in what came to be called the " Manila Massacre " . After many days of building - to - building combat , more than 16 , 000 Japanese defenders were killed , and by 26 February Iwabuchi committed suicide at his command post , using a hand grenade , although his body was never positively identified . He was posthumously promoted to vice admiral .