Eiji Kimizuka was born on July 16, 1952, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and died on December 28, 2015.

He was a Japanese general.

He was the 32nd Chief of Staff of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the de facto army of Japan.

He was promoted to four-star General and assumed the position on August 5th, 2011.

Eiji attended the National Defense Academy of Japan, graduating in 1976 into the Ground Self-Defense Force.

Kimizuka was initially trained in field artillery, and served in a number of artillery command roles at the company-grade and field-grade levels.

During his career, Eiji has attended a number of military schools including Japanese Ranger School, Japanese Airborne School, and the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

He was Promoted to Colonel in 1995, then served as the Commander of the 10th Artillery Regiment at JGSDF Camp Toyokawa.

In 1999, he became Chief of the Ground Staff Office.

Kimizuka was promoted to Major General in 2001, he has served as the Commander of the Western Army in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Kimizuka, became Commander of the 1st Combined Brigade at JGSDF Camp Naha.

Eiji became Commander of the Central Army at JGSDF Camp Itami.

Promoted to Lieutenant General in 2007, Kimizuka served as the Commander of the 8th Division. Later, in 2009, he became the Commander of the North Eastern Army, headquartered in Sendai.

However after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

He insistently led Joint Task Force Tohoku, to a massive 100,000 soldier relief effort coordinated with American forces in Operation Tomodachi.

Eiji Kimizuka passed away at 63 yrs old on December 28, 2015 due to lung cancer.