 On his return to Japan, he was assigned to the 14th Infantry Regiment.He was assigned to China in 1923, and served as a military advisor to Chinese warlord general Sun Chuanfang, in this capacity, he gathered many vital information and war maps, which later were used in the military operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War.He was promoted to colonel in July 1927 and returned to Japan to command the IJA 6th Infantry Regiment.