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Prime Minister of Japan, Tojo Hideki
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Tojo Hideki
(1884-1948), Japanese political and military leader. The premier who
ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he personified Japanese
militarism.
Tojo Eiku (his name before he became premier) was born in Tokyo on Dec. 30, 1884. The son of an army general, he graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1905, and 10 years later completed with honours his studies at the army war college. After World War I, he became an exponent of the theory of total war. As head of the mobilization section of the war ministry, he played an important role in drafting the first general mobilization |
| plans of the imperial
army. Committed to the principle that Japan's military strength must be
rooted in a developed industrial economy, Tojo urged in the early 1930's
the reorganization of the army and, at the same time, the integration of
the resources of Manchuria with the economy of Japan. His remarkable
abilities as a staff officer led to rapid promotion. After serving as
chief of police affairs of the Kwantung army (the Japanese army in
China), he became its chief of staff in 1937. He was appointed vice
minister of war in May 1938 and director of military aviation in
December. In July 1940, as minister of war, he drafted new mobilization
plans that strained diplomatic relations with the United States.
In October 1941 he became premier and took the portfolios of war, education, and commerce and industry. Tojo was a virtual dictator from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, until his resignation from the government on July 19, 1944, as a result of the American victory at Saipan on July 9. Japan surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945, and nine days later Tojo attempted suicide. Condemned by the International Military Tribunal for crimes against humanity, he was hanged in Tokyo on Dec. 23, 1948. |
