was a bureaucrat and cabinet minister in the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

, serving as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, and Minister of Greater East Asia.

Biography

Aoki was born to a farming family in Sarashina District,

Nagano prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

(now part of the city of Nagano), and was trained as a lawyer, graduating from the Law School of

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

in 1916. On graduation, he entered the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. Rising rapidly through the ranks, Aoki became chief of the Financial Bureau under

Takahashi Korekiyo Viscount was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922 and Ministry of Finance (Japan), Minister of Finance when he was assassinated. He was also a member of the House of Peers (Japan) ...

, who made use of his legal background to have Aoki draft a Foreign Exchange Management Act, which was passed by the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

in 1933. Up until that time, Japan had not attempted to implement comprehensive state control over

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. By trading volume, it i ...

. Aoki followed up on this law with the Rice Control Act (1933) and the Petroleum Control Act (1934), which set the stage for increasing state control over strategic sectors of the economy. He was also on the committee which drafted the National Service Draft Ordinance, which placed the Japanese economy on a

war economy A war economy or wartime economy is the set of preparations undertaken by a modern state to mobilize its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilizing and allocating resources to su ...

footing after the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 t ...

asked Aoki to become deputy director of the Cabinet Planning Board in 1937, and he became its chairman in 1939. The same year, Aoki was nominated to a seat in the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

in the Diet. Under Prime Minister Abe, Aoki was

in 1939, while retaining his post as chairman of the Cabinet Planning Board. After the fall of the Abe administration, Aoki was assigned as a special envoy to the Reorganized National Government of China to guide economic policy. He was recalled to Japan under the Tōjō administration to the newly created cabinet post of Minister of Greater East Asia In November 1942, in which position he oversaw the

Greater East Asia Conference was an international summit held in Tokyo from 5 to 6 November 1943, in which the Empire of Japan hosted leading politicians of various component parts of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The event was also referred to as the Tokyo C ...

. Aoki visited Japanese-occupied Batavia in May 1943, meeting with

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first Vice President of Indonesia, vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as ...

, who as representative for the Indonesian nationalists, advised him that unless there was a shift in Japanese policy towards granting independence for Indonesia (as it had for

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

), it would be increasingly difficult to maintain popular support for Japan. Aoki promised to raise the issue with Tōjō, who mentioned his intent to grant independence to Malaya,

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

within a year in his June 1943 parliamentary speech. After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, Aoki was arrested (as were all former government members) by the

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) ...

and held in

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima 23 special wards, ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was orig ...

on charges of

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s. However, he was released in 1948 without coming to trial. Afterwards, Aoki established a private legal practice. In 1953, he ran for a seat in the

House of Councilors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

with the support of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

on a nationwide ticket. He was subsequently reelected to the same seat three more times as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He joined a right-wing faction within the LDP in 1960 which was adamantly opposed to Japan’s normalization of relations with the

People’s Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

and supported Japan’s continued recognition of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He was also a strong supporter of building a nationwide network of highways in Japan, especially the

Chūō Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by NEXCO Central. Naming Officially the expressway is designated as the Chūō Expressway Nishinomiya Route (from Takaido Interchange to Komaki Junction), the Chūō Expressway N ...

. After his retirement from politics, Aoki joined the Board of Directors of Shin-etsu Broadcasting, and in 1968 was one of the founders of the Nagano Broadcasting Systems. In 1971, he was awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, 1st class. He published his memoirs in 1981, shortly before his death in 1982.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Aoki, Kazuo 1889 births 1982 deaths Politicians from Nagano Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Ministers of finance of Japan Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Liberal Party (Japan, 1945) politicians Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun