Yasuhiko Asaka

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Yasuhiko Asaka (1887-1981) was a Japanese Prince, uncle of Hirohito and son of Prince. Kuni Asahiko. He was also an officer of the Imperial Japanese Army, who was in overall command of the final assault on Nanking in 1937, an incident called the Rape of Nanking.

After the February 26, 1936 Incident, commanding the Imperial Guards of the Palace, he urged the Emperor to replace Okada Government with the Hirota cabinet, which was done in March 1936.

His direct responsibility for the Rape of Nanking is unclear; different accounts have him signing the order to kill all prisoners, while others have him arriving only after that was done; he had replaced the acknowledged and executed commander, Matsui Iwane. No legal body examined his command responsibility.

He was not prosecuted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, but that was more a matter of the immunity granted to the Imperial Family than a determination of innocence.