Chō was a native of Fukuoka prefecture. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1916 and from the Army Staff College in 1928.

After commissioning, Chō was assigned his first duties outside Japan with the politicized Kwantung Army based in eastern China. He returned to play a very active role in internal politics within the Japanese army, and was an active or indirect participant in the March Incident and the Imperial Colors Incident (with other leaders: Kingoro Hashimoto, Jirō Minami, Sadao Araki for the military, and nationalists Ikki Kita, Shūmei Ōkawa, Kanichiro Kamei, Kozaburo Tachibana and Mitsuru Toyama). He was a founder of the radical "Sakura Kai" secret society, whose aim was to overthrow the democratic government in favor of a state socialist regime which would stamp out corruption.

At the start of the Second Sino - Japanese War, Chō was commander of the IJA 74th Infantry Regiment of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, attached to Japanese Central China Area Army, and based in Manchukuo. At the Battle of Nanjing, he was aide - de - camp to Prince Asaka and is thought to have been complicit in ordering the massacre of prisoners of war, but it is disputed whether he obeyed an order from the prince, or whether he acted on his own.

Chō was subsequently involved in a number of border incidents between Manchukuo and the Soviet Union as Chief of Staff of the IJA 26th Division from 1939 - 1940.In 1940, he was transferred briefly to the Taiwan Army of Japan Headquarters, and then became Chief of Staff of the Indochina Expeditionary Army from 1940 - 1941.

Chō was Vice Chief of Staff of Unit 82 within the Military Affairs Bureau, in Ministry of War in 1941, and participated in the strategic and tactical planning for the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. From 1941 - 1942, he accompanied the Southern Army to French Indochina to oversee implementation of the Japanese strategy, and served as a liaison officer between the Southern Army and the IJA 14th Army in the Philippines.

From 1942 - 1944, Chō was commander of the IJA 10th Division, a garrison force based in Manchukuo. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1944, he served in the Kwangtung Army Headquarters, and later as commander of the 1st Mobile Brigade.

In 1945, Chō was Chief of Staff of the IJA 32nd Army during the Battle of Okinawa and masterminded the elaborate underground fortifications around Shuri Castle, but favored a high aggressive response to the American invasion rather than a passive defense. He persuaded General Mitsuru Ushijima to launch the disastrous 5 May 1945 counter - offensive. He committed ritual suicide alongside Ushijima on 22 June 1945 rather than surrender to the American forces.