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Japanese Central Government (WWII)
This article provides a comprehensive overview of key leaders who played pivotal roles in Japan’s political and military governance during the Second World War. Covering influential figures from heads of state to high-ranking military officers. Central government Supreme head of state *Hirohito, Emperor of Japan: Dai-gensui, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Armed Forces, head of state, and representative of the "Imperial Sun Lineage", State Shinto and Worship national god image, and chief of the Ministry of the Imperial Household. President of the Imperial Council *Yoshimichi Hara: President of the "Imperial Council" and "Imperial Throne Council of War" also the Emperor's representatives Chairman of the Imperial Advisory Council *Kantarō Suzuki: Chairman of the Imperial Advisory Council Imperial family members The following were closely involved in the government and military of Japan: *Prince Asaka Yasuhiko *Prince Chichibu *Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu *Prince F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hirohito
, Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigning emperor as well as one of the world's List of longest-reigning monarchs, longest-reigning monarchs. As emperor during the Shōwa era, Hirohito oversaw the rise of Japanese militarism, List of territories acquired by the Empire of Japan, Japan's expansionism in Asia, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, and the postwar Japanese economic miracle. Hirohito was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Meiji, as the first child of the Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako (later Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Hirohito's father ascended the throne, and Hirohito was proclaimed crown prince and heir apparent in 1916. In 1921, he made an official visit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Kan'in Kotohito
was the sixth head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940. During his tenure as the Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, the Imperial Japanese Army committed numerous war crimes against Chinese civilians including the Nanjing Massacre and the systemic use of chemical and bacteriological weapons. Prince Kan'in Kotohito died several months before the end of the Second World War. Early years Prince Kotohito was born in Kyoto on November 10, 1865, as the sixteenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (1802–1875). His father was the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family which were eligible to succeed to the throne if the main line should die out. Since the infant mortality rate in the main imperial household was quite high, Emperor Kōmei, the father of Emperor Meiji, adopted Prince Kotohito as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taisei Yokusankai
The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his ("New Order") movement. It evolved into a statist, para-fascist ruling political party which aimed at removing sectionalism and factionalism from politics and economics in the Empire of Japan, creating a totalitarian one-party state in order to maximize the efficiency of Japan's total war effort against China and later the Allies. When the organization was launched officially, Konoe was hailed as a "political savior" of a nation in chaos; however, internal divisions soon appeared. Origins Based on recommendations by the , Konoe originally conceived of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association as a reformist political party to overcome the deep-rooted differences and political cliques between bureaucrats, politicians and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonarigumi
The was the smallest unit of the national mobilization program established by the Japanese government in World War II. It consisted of units consisting of 10-15 households organized for fire fighting, civil defense and internal security. History and development Neighborhood mutual-aid associations existed in Japan since before the Edo period. The system was formalized on 11 September 1940 by order of the Home Ministry (Japan) under Imperial Rule Assistance Association by the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Participation was mandatory. Each unit was responsible for allocating rationed goods, distributing government bonds, fire fighting, public health, and civil defense. Each unit was also responsible for assisting the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement by distribution of government propaganda and organizing participation in patriotic rallies. The government also found the ''tonarigumi'' useful for the maintenance of public security. A network of informants was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumimaro Konoe
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the United States, which shortly after his tenure culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. Konoe played a central role in transforming Japan into a totalitarian state by pushing through the State General Mobilization Law and establishing the Imperial Rule Assistance Association while dissolving all other political parties. Born in Tokyo to a prominent aristocratic family, Konoe graduated from Kyoto University and took up his father's seat in the House of Peers in 1916. He was a member of the Japanese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I, and served as president of the House of Peers from 1933 to 1937. In June 1937, Konoe became prime minister of Japan on the recommendation of his mentor Saionji Kinmochi. When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Dragon Society
The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan. History The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by martial artist Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor Mitsuru Tōyama's '' Gen'yōsha''. Its name is derived from the translation of the Amur River, which is called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese (黑龍江 ?), read as ''Kokuryū-kō'' in Japanese. Its public goal was to support efforts to keep the Russian Empire north of the Amur River and out of East Asia. The ''Kokuryūkai'' initially made strenuous efforts to distance itself from the criminal elements of its predecessor, the ''Gen'yōsha''. As a result, its membership included Cabinet Ministers and high-ranking military officers as well as professional intelligence operatives. However, as time passed, it found the use of criminal activities to be a convenient means to an end for many of its operations. The Society published a journal, the ''Kokuryū Ka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōki Hirota
was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1936 to 1937. Originally his name was . He was executed for war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War at the Tokyo Trials. Early life Hirota was born on 14 February 1878, in in what is now part of Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, to stonemason Hirota Tokubei (廣田 徳平). His father had been adopted into the Hirota family of stonemasons. Tokubei married Take (タケ), a daughter of the president of a Japanese noodle company. On 14 February 1878, the couple had a son, whom Tokubei named . They later had three more children. Tokubei's name is engraved on the epigraph that recognized masons who contributed to the construction of a statue of Emperor Kameyama in Higashi kōen (東公園) in Fukuoka city. Hirota's writing was recognized as good from a young age since the name plate of the torii gate of Suikyo Shrine was written by Hirota when he was 11. After attending ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Prince Euimin
Yi Un (; 20 October 1897 – 1 May 1970) was the 28th Head of the Korean Imperial House, an Imperial Japanese Army general and the last Imperial Crown Prince of the Korean Empire. Before becoming the heir apparent to Sunjong of Korea, who became the emperor in 1907, Yi Un was known as the title Prince Imperial Yeong (). In 1910, the Korean Empire was annexed by Japan and Emperor Sunjong was forced to abdicate, and Yi Un married Princess Masako of Nashimoto, the eldest daughter of Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, on 28 April 1920 at Tokyo. On 10 June 1926, upon the death of Emperor Sunjong, Yi Un received the late emperor's title, and became the King Yi of Changdeokgung (), which referred to the palace Changdeokgung. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanded Japanese forces in China and served as a member of the Supreme War Council. After World War II he was refused entry to Korea, and his Japanese titles were removed by article 14 of the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Yamashina Takehiko
, was the third (and final) head of the Yamashina-no-miya, a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family. He was nicknamed "the Flying Prince". Early life Prince Yamashina Takehiko was the son and eldest child of Prince Yamashina Kikumaro by his first wife, the former Kujō Noriko. He succeeded his father as the third head of the Yamashina-no-miya house on 2 May 1908, after his father's sudden and untimely death. Military career Prince Yamashina Takehiko graduated from the 46th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1918 ranked 1st in his class of 126 cadets. He served his midshipman duty on the battleship ''Kirishima''. After graduating from naval artillery and torpedo warfare schools, he joined the Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau as a sub-lieutenant in 1921. Prince Yamashina was a naval aviation enthusiast and helped establish a private aviation institute, the Mikuni Aviation School. He rose to the rank of lieutenant and was attached to the Imperial Jap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Kuni Asaakira
, was third head of the Kuni-no-miya, a ōke, collateral branch of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese imperial family and vice admiral in the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II. He was the elder brother of Empress Nagako, Empress Kōjun (Nagako), the consort of Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), and thus a maternal uncle to the Akihito, Emperor Emeritus Akihito. Early life Prince Kuni Asaakira was born in Tokyo, the eldest son of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi and his wife, Chikako, the seventh daughter of Kazoku, Prince Shimazu Tadayoshi (2nd), Shimazu Tadayoshi, the last ''daimyō'' of Satsuma Domain. In 1921, he served for the customary term in the Japanese House of Peers, House of Peers. Upon his father's death on 29 June 1929, he succeeded as head of the Kuni-no-miya house. Military career Prince Kuni graduated from the 49th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1921. He served as a midshipman on the cruiser and battleship . After his commissioning as Ensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa
of Japan, was the 4th head of the Kitashirakawa-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. Early years Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa was the only son of Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa and Fusako, Princess Kane. He succeeded as the head of the Kitashirakawa-no-miya house upon his father's unexpected death in an automobile accident in France in 1923. Marriage and family On 25 April 1935, Prince Nagahisa married Sachiko Tokugawa, born , died , the daughter of Baron Yoshikuni Tokugawa. Prince and Princess Kitashirakawa Nagahisa had one son and one daughter: # #, married Duke Shimazu Military career Prince Nagahisa graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1931, and was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in field artillery. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1936 and captain in 1939 after his graduation from the 52nd class of the Army Staff College. After the start of the Second Sino-Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
