Hideki Tojo
| Born | 30 Jul 1884 |
| Died | 23 Dec 1948 |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Category | Government |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
Hideki Tojo (born Eiku Tojo) was born in Kojimachi District (now Chiyoda), Tokyo, Japan to the Japanese Army infantry Lieutenant (later Lieutenant General) Hidenori Tojo. He followed his father's footsteps and attended the Army Cadet School in 1899 and then the Japanese Military Academy in 1904. In Mar 1905, he completed the courses at the military academy and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry. In 1909, he married Katsuko Ito; they had three sons and four daughters. In 1912, he entered the Army Staff College, completing the program in 1915 and rose to the rank of captain and the commanding officer of the 3rd Imperial Guards Regiment. In Aug 1919, he served in Switzerland as a military attaché. On 10 Aug 1920, he was promoted to the rank of major. In Jul 1921, he served as a military attaché in Germany. On 28 Nov 1922, he became an instructor at the Army Staff College. In 1924, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 8 Mar 1928, he was assigned as a bureau chief in the Japanese Army. On 10 Aug 1928, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. On 1 Aug 1929, he became the commanding officer of the 1st Infantry Regiment; around this time, he became active in militarist politics. In Aug 1931, he became a staff officer with the Army Chief of Staff. On 18 Mar 1933, he was promoted to the rank of major general and served as the Chief of the Personnel Department. In Aug 1934, he became the commanding officer of the 24th Infantry Brigade.
On 21 Sep 1935, Tojo was assigned to the Kwantung Army as the head of its military police. Nicknamed Kamisori, or "Razor", he was known for his decisiveness. On 1 Dec 1935, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. During the Feb 26 Incident, he stood against the rebels, and emerged the Army's leading political figure. On 1 Mar 1937, he became the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army. He led units of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade during Operation Chahar in Jul 1937, and deployed his troops to Hobei Province, China after the Second Sino-Japanese War began; with the Kwantung Army, he also played a key role in efficiently utilizing Manchuria's natural resources to feed the hungry Japanese industrial machine. Returning to Japan in May 1938, he became Vice War Minister and Chief of Army Aviation under War Minister Seishiro Itagaki, who was a member of Fumimaro Konoe's cabinet. As head of the Japanese Army's aviation program, he adopted an aggressive stance in conducting pre-emptive strikes against China and Russia. On 22 Jul 1940, he was appointed War Minister by Prime Minister Konoe. In this role, he expanded the Second Sino-Japanese War and was instrumental in forming the alliance between Japan, Germany, and Italy. Japan's expansionist philosophies, which were heavily influenced by Tojo, eventually led to an economic sanctions and then an oil embargo, conducted by several western powers including the United States and Britain. In the cabinet meeting of 14 Oct, which was to be Konoe's last, Tojo noted that
On 16 Oct 1941, Konoe resigned from his post as prime minister. On the next day, Emperor Showa (Hirohito) summoned Tojo to the Imperial Palace. "I thought I was summoned because the Emperor was angry at my opinion", said Tojo in his diary, but his initial reaction could not be further from the truth. As it would turn out, on the next day, 18 Oct 1941, Tojo was named the 40th Prime Minister of Japan. His first task was to conduct a careful evaluation of whether war was still avoidable; on 2 Nov, Tojo and Chiefs of Staff Hajime Sugiyama and Osami Nagano reported their failure in searching for a potential peaceful solution with the western powers. Upon receiving this report, Emperor Showa consented to the notion of war on 5 Nov. Through the month of Nov, Tojo made a last ditch effort in averting war; meanwhile, he and his staff presented war plans to Emperor Showa, who formally approved "war against the United States, England, and Holland" during the Imperial Conference of 1 Dec 1941. The Pacific War began as Japanese aircraft attacked the American naval base of Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941.
Over the course of his tenure as prime minister, Tojo gradually placed himself in direct charge of the army, foreign affairs, commerce, education, and the munitions industry. As Education Minister, he continued militaristic and nationalist indoctrination in the national education system. Although support for his government was high through 1942, starting in early 1943 support gradually waned. In Feb 1944, he assumed the role of the commander-in-chief of the General Staff, effectively gaining dictatorial powers, in order to secure his political position. However, even with absolute power, the loss of Saipan in the Mariana Islands spelled the end of his tenure as prime minister. On 18 Jul 1944, Tojo submitted his resignation to Emperor Showa.
On 8 Sep 1945, after the Japanese surrender, Tojo attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest with a pistol; he survived as the bullet missed his heart. He was arrested while recovering from the gunshot wound, and moved to the Sugamo Prison after he had recovered. He was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes. He was found guilty of count 1 (waging unprovoked wars of aggression and war or wars in violation of international law), count 27 (waging war against China), count 29 (waging aggressive war against the United States), count 31 (waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth), count 32 (waging aggressive war against the Netherlands), count 33 (waging aggressive war against French Indochina), and count 54 (ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of POWs and others). Accepting his responsibilities as a Class A war criminal, he stated that
Tojo was sentenced to death by hanging on 12 Nov 1948, which was carried out on 23 Dec 1948. Before he was hanged, he apologized for atrocities committed by the Japanese Army, though claimed that he was simply following orders from Emperor Showa for the cases where he was implicated with war crimes; he also urged the American occupation to show compassion toward the Japanese people.
Tojo is among those enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine, which continues to stir controversy today.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, August 1939
2 May 2005 07:13:25 AM
this website sucks!!.....jkjkjk
2 May 2005 07:17:44 AM
umm this place is really good...i got an A on my essays!!thankx
23 Nov 2005 11:17:33 AM
ILOVE TOJO
12 Feb 2007 04:43:20 PM
this website is really good but it needs more info
24 Nov 2007 07:21:30 PM
Hi i think you are very interesting in research.
30 Dec 2007 11:39:30 AM
Some of the dates dont match my other research
3 Jan 2008 11:49:17 AM
nice information i hope i get an A for my essay
26 Jan 2008 06:16:11 AM
Give more information about the status and involvment of Hideki Tojo in World War II. Other than the failure to include such information, very nice overview
6 Mar 2008 12:01:33 PM
U SUCK!
whoever did this
wikipedia sucks
they're always wrong and this sucks
screw you
12 Mar 2008 09:45:43 AM
nice site
but i agree that you should have more information about his involment in World War II.
thank You
13 Mar 2008 03:42:44 PM
This website didnt help me at all i wanted to learn about fatalities and it didnt say anything about it. Soo i think you should at it on here so it will help other ppl.
24 Mar 2008 01:20:31 PM
this website was O.K it had some good facts but it could have more
24 Mar 2008 02:28:30 PM
this site gives alot of info but it could give more on his personal life I hope it helps me on my s.s test my teacher is super hard!
24 Mar 2008 02:50:25 PM
this website is awesome because im gonna get an A on my Essay
27 Mar 2008 02:05:11 PM
This was a good web site it gave alot of info i hope it gets me an a on my report my teacher is realy tough!!! thanx!
2 Apr 2008 07:00:32 AM
2 Apr 2008
7 Apr 2008 03:45:13 AM
which evil man said he liked Tojo!That dirty Japanese killed so many innocent Chinese,about 20 million people just during 1939 and 1945!!!He is the most cruel Japanese beast in the whole history!I hate Tojo!!!!1
11 Apr 2008 05:50:50 AM
this website sucks you guys just repeat everything over and over as the other websites YOU NEED MORE INFO
16 Apr 2008 05:18:32 AM
Mr. H.Tojo is very ugly
18 Apr 2008 06:43:14 AM
It's rather entertaining to read the trivial issues of teenagers lives when all of the information on this website points to a man who clearly had social issues.
1 May 2008 08:18:05 AM
Holy **** . Google had more info on Hideki Tojo. Who ever wrote this sucks dick. FU
4 May 2008 11:10:06 AM
Very good site! I hope this helps me!
11 May 2008 09:54:04 PM
great need more info
12 May 2008 05:47:17 AM
this website sucks because is does not show tities
12 May 2008 11:26:50 AM
you are a jack **** oh ya and you suck you dum ass
13 May 2008 08:13:21 AM
i hate this website
21 May 2008 07:19:04 AM
this website sucks
27 May 2008 10:34:31 AM
thats sad
3 Jul 2008 06:15:29 AM
Hello
As mentioned in the many other comments on this page, you need more information that covers every aspect of Hideki Tojo's background, you need a wider varity for us to filter through in order get the information we are looking for instested of settling for the small bits that are in this topic.
Im still satisfied with this information as i have crossed it with many of my other sources and composed a well written report on Hideki Tojo.
Thank you... you rock WW2DB!!!!1
21 Jul 2008 11:43:54 PM
i need key ideas of what tojos done KEY IDEAS !!!
14 Sep 2008 10:38:10 AM
This info is good, but you need more info.
19 Nov 2008 06:54:06 PM
i would like more on his personal life, and what he did to get his country to follow the choice he made, an his chioce of propoganda.
oh and essays blow.
18 Jan 2009 05:18:01 PM
what about his parets
3 Feb 2009 01:26:32 PM
im doing a report on him.
this sucks
9 Mar 2009 04:47:44 PM
NEEDS MORE INFO ON HIS CHILDHOOD :/
16 Mar 2009 07:50:39 AM
Im doin a report on him too!!!!!!
23 Mar 2009 10:12:36 AM
needs more info on his childhood thx
23 Mar 2009 10:13:25 AM
needs more info tis did not really help at all
25 Mar 2009 10:16:00 PM
I think this site is good
,but!
it need more information
I wish I get A on my essay
6 Apr 2009 05:29:09 PM
pretty nice info here. helped me a lot, though i wish there was more info about his actual involvment in the war.
10 Apr 2009 08:25:35 PM
he is not a good person,lots of people dying in the world war 2 relates to him.
21 Apr 2009 09:39:17 AM
OMG!!!thiswebsite doesnt give much info.Not good
25 Apr 2009 11:43:16 AM
very interesting but it was hard to find inf oon him! Thanks for the help!
25 Apr 2009 06:48:09 PM
needs more info on childhood. Thanks.
4 May 2009 05:26:59 PM
i got a lot of infomration .
& i like this wedsite
miqht come back around
you never know ( :
i hope i pass my freaky project .
29 May 2009 03:51:02 AM
He is a real criminal.
11 Oct 2009 06:27:41 PM
Good site, finally got information about his early life and pre-war history. Does need more info about WWII but thats what the millions of other websites are for.
Thanks.
17 Nov 2009 08:38:57 PM
awsomeness
12 Jan 2010 11:24:25 AM
haha, this is so boringg
28 Jan 2010 12:05:10 PM
i have to do this for school, this guy is dead and a criminal!!
2 Feb 2010 06:47:44 AM
childhood expeiriences pleaseomgyouguys suck you need more info my god at least write a whole page of info fku!
18 Feb 2010 04:51:21 PM
this is a relly good website
27 Feb 2010 06:40:08 PM
THanks for help, really learned a lot ( + good grade on report! )
14 Mar 2010 04:03:55 AM
need more info
15 Mar 2010 11:35:21 AM
goood reaserch
24 Mar 2010 11:04:40 AM
this was not the best websit ive ever used but it was decently good and i hope i get a very good grade on mah report so i can have a 4.0 gpa
13 Apr 2010 06:02:56 AM
I'm so bored. I'm in history, and I've been reading the comments and everyone says this website sucks
15 Apr 2010 03:15:47 PM
this website neeeds to be more specific .
21 Apr 2010 02:46:53 PM
i dislike tojo
him putting the blame of his crims on the emporer
what a baby
26 Apr 2010 07:03:08 PM
very good website. idk what the others were about when they said repeated info. i absolutely loved it. very good website. keep up the good work.
30 Apr 2010 07:45:13 AM
i have to do a report on him too. this guy was crazy!!!!!!
12 May 2010 04:10:05 AM
tojo is a hoo!
12 May 2010 05:29:20 PM
im doing a report on him to :)
24 May 2010 08:13:40 AM
I like reading these comments, they are funny :D :P. and this is a good website for reports becuase I got an A+ on it :)
27 May 2010 05:09:04 PM
this website good
30 May 2010 05:44:38 PM
yes site ok at least we learn how bod the man was and how bad japan was at this time and at thye end how stupid tyhe usa was to let the emperor go free whenb we now know he should have been shoot with his family