List of Japanese political figures in early Showa period
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List of important political and civil figures during World War II
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World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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- Osachi Hamaguchi: Prime Minister
- Tomeo Sagoya: the assassin of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi. He was a member of Aikoku-sha (Love of Country Association)
- Wakatsuki ReijirōWakatsuki ReijiroōBaron was a Japanese politician and the 25th and 28th Prime Minister of Japan. Opposition politicians of the time derogatorily labeled him Usotsuki Reijirō, or "Reijirō the Liar".- Early life :...
: Prime Minister - Hara TakashiHara Takashiwas a Japanese politician and the 19th Prime Minister of Japan from 29 September 1918 to 4 November 1921. He was also called Hara Kei informally. He was the first commoner appointed to the office of prime minister of Japan...
: Commoner and liberal thinker of the Seiyukai party, came to be Prime Minister. - Kaku Mori: a Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Yōsuke MatsuokaYosuke Matsuokawas a diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in 1933, ending Japan’s participation in that organization...
: Foreign Affairs Minister - Fumimaro KonoeFumimaro KonoePrince was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai.- Early life :...
: Prime Minister, founder of Dobunkai Secret society - Naotake SatōNaotake Satowas a Japanese diplomat and politician. He was born at Osaka. He graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commercial School in 1904, attended the consul course of the same institute, and quit studying there in 1905.- Home political career :He was an active politician and diplomat...
: himself realizing official duties, Manchukuo and China, some ambassador in Italy and last Ambassador in Soviet Union - Kanji Kato: an important functionary in the Foreign affairs ministry.
- Gotō Shinpei: ex-governor of Taiwan and important supporter of Manchukuo actions.
- Noburo Ohtani: president of N.Y.K. Line
- Kishi Shinsuke: a nationalist, industrialist and merchant
- Yakichiro Suma: Spokesman of Foreign Affairs Ministry
- Nobofumi Ito: Chief of Information department
- Koh Ishii: Spokesman of Information department
- Saitō TakaoSaito Takaowas a Japanese politician and longtime member of the Imperial Diet from Hyōgo Prefecture. He was a member of the Rikken Minseito party. On February 2, 1940, he made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China. For this, he was expelled...
: Member of DietDiet of JapanThe is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
, opposed to official policy - Baron Takumo Dan: Chief of MitsuiMitsuiis one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
Banking interest and United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
friend - Kazuo TaokaKazuo Taokawas one of the most prominent yakuza Godfathers.Known as the "Godfather of Godfathers", Taoka was third kumicho of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization, from 1946 to 1981....
: nationalist with Yakuza links - Kenji Osano: Ultranationalist politician and thinker
- Kōki HirotaKoki Hirotawas a Japanese diplomat, politician and the 32nd Prime Minister of Japan from March 9, 1936 to February 2, 1937.-Early life:Hirota was born in what is now part of Chūō-ku, Fukuoka city, Fukuoka Prefecture. His father was a stonemason, and he was adopted into the Hirota family. After attending...
: member of Genyosha and Black Dragon secret societies, also Foreign Minister, Prime Minister - Kaoru Ogawa: another member of nationalist societies and right wing believer associated with organized crime
- Ryōhei UchidaRyohei Uchidawas a Japanese ultranationalist political theorist. Pan-Asianist, and martial artist, active in the pre-war Empire of Japan.-Biography:Uchida was born in Fukuoka prefecture. He was the son of Shinto Muso-ryu practitioner Uchida Ryōgorō, and from an early age was interested in many forms of Japanese...
: Ultranationalist, founder of Genyosha (Dark Ocean, also Black Ocean) secret society; too right-wing adviser and president of Dai Nippon Seisanto (Japan Production Party) nationalist party. - Kuzuo Yoshihisa: Right-wing supporter, successor of Ryohei Uchida in leading of Black Dragon SocietyBlack Dragon SocietyThe was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
in 1937. - Kotaro Hiraoka: another ultranationalist, also a SamuraiSamuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
. Another founder of the GenyoshaGenyoshaThe ' was an influential ultranationalist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan.-Foundation as the Koyōsha:Originally founded as the Koyōsha by Hiraoka Kotarō , a wealthy ex-samurai and mine-owner, with mining interests in Manchuria, Toyama Mitsuru, and other former samurai of the...
Secret society. - Mitsuro Toyama: chief of Black Dragon SocietyBlack Dragon SocietyThe was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
, also founder of KenkokukaiKenkokukaiThe Kenkokukai was a Japanese secret society founded in April 1926. It was formed by Motoyuki Takabatake , a nationalist Marxist National Socialist, Shinkichi Uesugi and Bin Akao of the Nagoya Anarchists. It proclaimed for its object "the creation of a genuine people's state based on unanimity...
and RoninkaiRoninkaiThe Rōninkai was a Japanese ultra-nationalist anti-democratic political group that shared many of its members with the similar organization Genyosha and the Black Dragon Society. It was founded by Tanaka Hiroyuki in 1908...
secret groups. - Kosaburo Tachibana: right-wing follower, founder of Aikyojuku (Native-Land-Loving School) Secret society
- Kakuei TanakaKakuei Tanakawas a Japanese politician and the 64th and 65th Prime Minister of Japan from 7 July 1972 to 22 December 1972 and from 22 December 1972 to 9 December 1974 respectively...
: Ultranationalist. Former Japanese Prime Minister - Hisayuki MachiiHisayuki Machii, nicknamed the , was the founder of one of Japan's most notorious yakuza gangs, the Tosei-Kai.A Korean, Machii was born Jeong Geon Yeong in 1923 when Korea was under Japanese occupation. After World War II, Machii settled in Tokyo and became involved in postwar Japan's thriving black market...
: Nationalist leader with criminal connections - Kakuji InagawaKakuji InagawaKakuji Inagawa , also known as Seijō Inagawa was a Japanese yakuza boss best known for founding the Inagawa-kai, Japan's third-largest yakuza syndicate....
: another right-wing follower and ideologist - Fumio Gotō: chief of Showa Studies SocietyShowa Studies SocietyThe was a political think tank in the pre-war Empire of Japan. -History and Background:The Shōwa Kenkyūkai was established in October 1930 as an informal organization led by Ryūnosuke Gotō, with the original intent of reviewing and assessing issues with the Meiji Constitution and the current...
- Dr. Shūmei Ōkawa: nationalist ideologist and instructor in Showa Studies Society
- Count Yoriyasu ArimaYoriyasu Arimawas a Japanese politician before and during World War II. His wife was the daughter of Prince Takeda Tsunehisa.-Biography:Arima was born in Tokyo as a son of the former daimyo of Kurume Domain...
: another "professor" in Showa Studies Society - Fusanosuke KuharaFusanosuke Kuharawas a businessman and politician of Japan.He was a syndicalist, zaibatsu member, and mining industrialist, later becoming a right-wing supporter in wartime Japan....
: ex-syndicalist, ideologist and right-wing spokesman - Komakichi Matsuoka: syndicalist and leader of the Worker Federation of Japan industrial Syndicate during the 1940s
- Naoki HoshinoNaoki Hoshinowas a bureaucrat and politician who served in the Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese government, and as an official in the Empire of Manchukuo.-Biography:Hoshino was born in Yokohama, where his father was involved in the textile industry...
: right-wing and Army civil follower Ideologist - Ichizō KobayashiIchizo Kobayashi, occasionally referred to by his pseudonym Itsuō , was a Japanese industrialist. He is best known as the founder of Hankyu Railway and Takarazuka Revue. He was a supporter of right-wing doctrine and represented Japanese capital in government.-Career:...
: President of Tokio Gasu Denky (Electric light and Gas Company of Tokyo) and Minister of Commerce and Industry - Shōzō MurataShozo Muratawas a Japanese entrepreneur, cabinet minister and diplomat before, during and after World War II.- Biography :Murata was a native of Tokyo and a graduate of the Tokyo Higher Commerce School . After graduation, he went to work with the Osaka Shosen Kaisha was a Japanese entrepreneur, cabinet...
: president of Osaka Shosen Kaisha, Minister of Communications - Prince Saionji KinmochiSaionji KinmochiPrince was a Japanese politician, statesman and twice Prime Minister of Japan. His title does not signify the son of an emperor, but the highest rank of Japanese hereditary nobility; he was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920...
: last survivor of ancient GenroGenrowas an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen, considered the "founding fathers" of modern Japan, who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods in Japanese history.The institution of genrō...
group, related with Sumitomo ZaibatsuZaibatsuis a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.-Terminology:...
Clan - Akira KazamiAkira KazamiAkira Kazami was a Japanese politician. From no great prominence, he was made secretary-General of the first cabinet of Prince Konoe, in 1937...
: Ministry of Justice - Baron Hiranuma Kiichirō: Radical thinker, Home Minister
- Masatsune OguraMasatsune Ogurawas a Japanese politician and business man. In 1930 he became the president of Sumitomo Group. During his period as president the company developed into a zaibatsu. He is credited for streamlining management for the company. In 1941 he was appointed Minister of finance for the brief period between...
: Director of Sumitomo Empress and Finance Minister - Chikao Fujisawa: member of Diet, supporte of State Shinto laws
- Prince Kan'in KotohitoPrince Kan'in Kotohito, wasthe sixth head of a cadet branch the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940.-Early years:...
, supporter of State - Katsuko Tojo: Tojo's wife and supporter of the implementation of eugenicsEugenicsEugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
policies in Japan - Yoshisuke AikawaYoshisuke Aikawa-External links:*...
: Industrialist of Nissan Company, also Chief of ManchukuoManchukuoManchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
Industrial Zaibatsu along Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Establishment - Toshio ShiratoriToshio Shiratoriwas the Japanese ambassador to Italy from 1938 to 1940, advisor to the Japanese foreign minister in 1940, and one of the 14 Class-A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni....
: radical follower of the Axis PowersAxis PowersThe Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
alliance, first adviser of the Foreign Affairs ministry and ambassador in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... - Count Kabayama: moderate and Capitalist diplomat, also United States friend
- Renzo Sawada: ex-ambassador in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- Juji Kasai: Representant Chamber Member, another Pro-AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Kensuke Horinouchi: Ambassador in the United States for a short time
- Marquis Okuma: ex-Prime Minister
- Fuji Fujuzawa: Industrialist and foreign merchant in Scrap iron and nationalist government supporter
- Saburō KurusuSaburo Kurusuwas a Japanese career diplomat. He is remembered now as an envoy who tried to negotiate peace and understanding with the United States while Japan was secretly preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor....
: new special ambassador in the United States - Kaname Wakasugi: aide of Special Ambassador
- Yoshio KodamaYoshio Kodamawas a prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan. The most famous 'kuromaku', or behind-the-scenes power broker, of the 20th century, he was active in Japan's political arena and criminal underworld from the 1950s to the early 1970s....
: ultranationalist thinker and political personality related with Yakuza groups - Ryoichi SasakawaRyoichi Sasakawawas a Japanese businessman, politician and philanthropist born in Minoh, Osaka. He was accused but acquitted of being a Class A war criminal after World War II, was a self-proclaimed fascist, kuromaku , and the founder of The Nippon Foundation...
: a right-wing follower and ideology also linked with criminal societies - Okinori KayaOkinori Kayawas the Japanese finance minister between 1941-1944. In 1945, he was captured by the Allies, tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment...
: nationalist and merchant related with some Yakuza groups
Military figures in politics
- General Kazushige Ugaki: Prime Minister
- General Tanaka GiichiTanaka GiichiBaron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, politician, and the 26th Prime Minister of Japan from 20 April 1927 to 2 July 1929.-Early life and military career:...
: Prime Minister - General Hideki TōjōHideki TōjōHideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...
: Prime Minister, War Minister and Home Minister - General Sadao ArakiSadao ArakiBaron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before World War II. A charismatic leader and one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the late Japanese Empire, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the politicized Japanese Army and served as...
: Radical ideologist, founder of Kodoha Party and Minister of Education - Admiral Makoto SaitoSaito MakotoViscount was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, two-time Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and from 1929 to 1931, and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from May 26, 1932 to July 8, 1934.-Early life:...
: Prime Minister - Colonel Kingoro HashimotoKingoro Hashimotowas a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army and politician.-Early career:Hashimoto was born in Okayama City, and a graduate of the 23rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1911. He subsequently graduated from the Army Staff College in 1920. In April 1922, he was assigned to the Kwangtung...
: Leader of Imperial Young Federation, Imperial Aid Association and Imperial Farmers Association - Admiral Mitsumasa YonaiMitsumasa Yonaiwas an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and politician. He was the 37th Prime Minister of Japan from 16 January to 22 July 1940.-Early life & Naval career:...
: Prime Minister - General Nobuyuki Abe: Foreign Affairs Minister
- Lieutenant General Heisuke YanagawaHeisuke Yanagawa- Notes :...
: Ministry of Justice and leader of the Imperial Aid Association - Admiral Teijirō ToyodaTeijiro Toyoda, was a career naval officer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1941, and admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.- Early life :...
: Commerce & Industry and Foreign Affairs Minister - Lieutenant General Seizo Sakonji: Commerce & Industry Minister
- General Kuniaki Koizo: Prime Minister and partidaire of State Shintoism policy
- Admiral Kichisaburō NomuraKichisaburō Nomura-External links:...
: military policy, proposed how special ambassador in agreements with the United States - General Hachirō AritaHachiro Aritawas a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He is believed to have originated the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.- Biography :...
: ex-Foreign Affairs Minister and military thinker - Colonel Hideo IwakuroHideo Iwakuro- Notes :...
: member of Army Staaff, right-winger, and diplomatic Army supporter