Tojo was a workaholic and believed in strict discipline. Tensions between America and Japan worsened with the Immigration Control Act passed by the US Congress which banned all Asian immigration into the US.
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What did Hideki Tojo want?
Tojo wanted an alliance between Japan, Germany and Italy and pushed for it in the government. Tojo served as the Prime Minister and army minister during WWII, and in 1944 he took the additional command of chief of the Army General Staff.
Did Hideki Tojo believe in militarism?
Furthermore, Tojo supported a militaristic viewpoint, in which Japan could obtain its goals and expand its territory through militaristic expansion. Tojo furthered his rise to power in 1935 when he was given command over the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, which was a region in northeastern China.
What did Hideki Tojo stand for?
Tōjō was the prime minister of Japan during most of the Pacific War. He was one of the architects of Japan's expansionist policies in Asia and directed Japan's military efforts during its earliest and most successful campaigns.
Was Tojo a good leader?
Tojo had great power at the beginning of the war and in the West was often likened to Hitler and Mussolini. Besides serving as premier, he was a general in the army, war minister, and, for a short time, home minister. Later in the war he also served as chief of the general staff.
What did Tojo promise?
Tojo, now a virtual dictator, quickly promised a “New Order in Asia,” and toward this end supported the bombing of Pearl Harbor despite the misgivings of several of his generals. Tojo's aggressive policies paid big dividends early on, with major territorial gains in Indochina and the South Pacific.
What bad things did Tojo do?
During the course of the war, Tojo presided over numerous war crimes, including the massacre and starvation of civilians and prisoners of war. He was also involved in the sexual enslavement of thousands of mostly Korean women and girls for Japanese soldiers, an event that still strains modern Japanese-Korean relations.
What made Tojo a dictator?
When he returned again to his homeland, Tojo assumed the office of vice-minister of war and quickly took the lead in the military's increasing control of Japanese foreign policy, advocating the signing of the 1940 Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy that made Japan an "Axis" power.
Did Tojo plan Pearl Harbor?
Though Hideki Tojo wasn't the man who orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and still required the Emperor's approval before going ahead with the plan, he's often credited as the official who ordered it.
Was Tojo executed?
I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails." Hideki Tojo was sentenced to death for war crimes and executed by hanging on December 23, 1948, after accepting full responsibility for his actions in World War II and, in the end, advocating peace.
What was Tojo objection to the Japanese government?
Tojo also criticized his colleagues, accusing government leaders of "being scared of enemy threats and easily throwing their hands up." Surrender proponents were "frightened by 'the new type of bomb' and terrified by the Soviet Union's entry into the war," he wrote.
How did Tōjō Hideki change the world?
Tōjō was the prime minister of Japan during most of the Pacific War. He was one of the architects of Japan’s expansionist policies in Asia and dire...
Where was Tōjō Hideki educated?
Tōjō attended Japan’s Imperial Military Academy and Military Staff College. These two schools were a gateway to power in pre-World War II Japan, an...
How did Tōjō Hideki die?
Tōjō shot himself in a failed suicide attempt after Japan surrendered on September 11, 1945, but the Allies treated his wounds so he could stand tr...
Where is Tōjō Hideki buried?
Tōjō was cremated. Some of his ashes were scattered at sea, and some were interred at Zōshigaya Cemetery in Tokyo and at Koa Kannon, a temple dedic...
What did Tôjô do?
Tôjô characteristically sought to gather administrative levers into his own hands. Serving as both prime minister and army minister, at various times he also held the portfolios of home affairs (giving him control of the dreaded “thought police”), education, munitions, commerce and industry, and foreign affairs.
What was Tôjô's role in the war?
Tôjô built up a personal power base and used his position as head of the military police of Japan’s garrison force in Manchuria to rein in their influence before he became the Kwantung Army’s chief of staff in 1937. He played a key role in opening hostilities against China in July.
Why was Razor Tôjô so famous?
Known within the army as “Razor Tôjô” both for his bureaucratic efficiency and for his strict, uncompromising attention to detail, he climbed the command ladders, in close association with the army faction seeking to upgrade and improve Japan’s fighting capabilities despite tight budgets and “civilian interference.”.
What were Japan's early victories?
Japan’s early victories greatly strengthened his personal prestige and his assertion that there were times when statesmen had to “have faith in Victory.”. When the war intensified, Japan’s losses mounted, and its fragile industrial foundations threatened to collapse.
When did Tôjô become Prime Minister?
In October 1941 he became prime minister. Although Tôjô supported last-minute diplomatic efforts, he gave final approval to the attacks on the United States, Great Britain, and the Dutch East Indies in December 1941.
Who was the leader of Japan during the Pacific War?
Tôjô Hideki. Wartime leader of Japan’s government, General Tôjô Hideki (1884-1948), with his close-cropped hair, mustache, and round spectacles, became for Allied propagandists one of the most commonly caricatured members of Japan’s military dictatorship throughout the Pacific war.
Was Tôjô a dictator?
Yet despite all his posts, Tôjô was never able to establish a dictatorship on a par with those wielded by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Why did Konoe want Tojo?
For this reason, Konoe wanted Tojo, a tough general whose ultra-nationalism was beyond question, to provide "cover" for his attempt to seek a diplomatic solution to the war with China. Tojo was a strong supporter of the Tripartite Pact between Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy.
What did Tojo tell his officers?
Reflecting the imagery often used in Japan to describe people in power, Tojo told his officers that they were to be both a "father" and a "mother" to the men under their command. Tojo often visited the homes of the men under his command, assisted his men with personal problems and made loans to officers short of money.
What did the Japanese call the victory disease?
As the Japanese went from victory to victory, Tojo and the rest of the Japanese elite were gripped by what the Japanese called " victory disease " as the entire elite was caught up in a state of hubris, believing Japan was invincible and the war was as good as won.
What did Tojo do in 1905?
In 1899, Tojo enrolled in the Army Cadet School. In 1905, Tojo shared in the general outrage in Japan at the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the war with Russia, and which the Japanese people saw as a betrayal as the war did not end with Japan annexing Siberia as popular opinion had demanded.
Why was Tojo called Razor?
Politically, he was nationalist, and militarist, and was nicknamed "Razor" (カミソリ, Kamisori), for his reputation of having a sharp and legalistic mind capable of quick decision-making.
When was Hideki Tojo removed from office?
During his years in power, he assumed several more positions including Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army before ultimately being removed from office in July 1944. Hideki Tojo was born on December 30, 1884 to a relatively low-ranking samurai family in the Kōjimachi district of Tokyo.
What was Tojo's order to the Emperor?
After being informed of his appointment, Tojo was given one order from the Emperor: to make a policy review of what had been sanctioned by the Imperial Conferences. Despite vocally on the side of war, Tojo nevertheless accepted this order, and pledged to obey. According to Colonel Akiho Ishii, a member of the Army General Staff, the newly appointed Prime Minister showed a true sense of loyalty to the emperor performing this duty. For example, when Ishii received from Hirohito a communication saying the Army should drop the idea of stationing troops in China to counter the military operations of the Western powers, he wrote a reply for the Prime Minister for his audience with the Emperor. Tojo then replied to Ishii: "If the Emperor said it should be so, then that's it for me. One cannot recite arguments to the Emperor. You may keep your finely phrased memorandum."
Where did Hideki go to school?
Where was Tōjō Hideki educated? Tōjō attended Japan’s Imperial Military Academy and Military Staff College. These two schools were a gateway to power in pre- World War II Japan, and many graduates were prominent members of the militarist faction that controlled Japanese politics in the 1930s and ’40s.
Who was the prime minister of Japan during World War II?
Tōjō Hideki, (born December 30, 1884, Tokyo, Japan—died December 23, 1948, Tokyo), soldier and statesman who was prime minister of Japan (1941–44) during most of the Pacific theatre portion of World War II and who was subsequently tried and executed for war crimes. Top Questions.
What was the name of the Japanese army in 1937?
In 1937 he was named chief of staff of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. In World War II the Japanese military forces quickly took advantage of their success at Pearl Harbor to expand their holdings throughout the Pacific and westward toward India. This expansion continued relatively unchecked until mid-1942.
Who was Hideki Tojo?
Tojo, Hideki (1884–1948), Japanese general of the army and prime minister .Tojo, a graduate of the Japanese Military Staff College, was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936. By that time, he had become both pro‐German and an ardent advocate of Japanese military expansionism in China.
What did Tojo think of the Japanese?
Nevertheless, Tojo rejected the idea of a negotiated peace treaty. He thought Japan should continue to fight. But in July 1945, U.S. troops defeated the Japanese on Saipan (part of the Marianas island chain in the South Pacific) putting American bomber planes in range of the main Japanese islands.
What was Tojo's nickname?
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Tojo rose through the ranks of the military, gaining a reputation as a decisive, hardworking, very efficient officer whose nickname was kamisori (the razor).
What happened to Tojo in 1944?
By early 1944 even though the tide of battle had turned decisively against Japan, and Tojo admitted to the Diet that the nation faced "the most critical situation in the history of the Empire, " he stood firmly opposed to increasing sentiment in favor of negotiation. The fall of Saipan in July 1944, however, put American bombers within range of the home-land, and the senior statesmen together with ministers in Tojo's Cabinet forced him into retirement.
What did Tojo do in 1936?
Promoted to lieutenant general in 1936, Tojo became chief of staff of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, where he worked effectively to mobilize Manchuria's economy and strengthen Japan's military readiness in the event that war broke out with the Soviet Union.
What was the role of Tojo in World War II?
Tojo was seen as an all-powerful dictator similar to Germany's Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; see entry) or Italy's Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; see entries). Although Tojo played a major role in Japan's wartime affairs , his power and ambitions were actually not as great as Hitler's or Mussolini's. He has been described as an uncomplicated, hardworking man intensely dedicated to his profession. His fatal error was in not realizing that the United States and its allies could win a long-term, large-scale war.
When was Hideki Tojo born?
Hideki Tojo was born in Tokyo on Dec. 30, 1884, the eldest son in a family of samurai descent. Tojo entered military school in 1899, following in the footsteps of his father, a professional military man who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Sino-Japanese War and as a major general in the Russo-Japanese War.
What did Tojo decide to do?
He decided that a massive knock-out blow would be sufficient to remove America from the Pacific.
Where was Tojo born?
Tojo was born in Tokyo and decided on a career in the army. He did well at military college and served as a military attaché in Germany shortly after the end of World War One. Tojo became the leader of the militarists in Japan and despised what he considered to be weak civilian politicians. His views were shared by many in the public and in ...
When did Tojo resign?
With bombing raids reducing a lot of Japan to rubble, the emperor, Hirohito, believed that Tojo had lost control of events and Tojo offered his resignation on July 9th, 1944. In November 1948, Tojo was put on trial as a war criminal.
Who was the Minister of War in Japan in 1940?
In the summer of 1940, Tojo became Minister of War in the government and he saw that Japan’s future lay with the European dictators – especially Hitler – who were much admired in Japan. While the European dictators were admired and respected in Japan, the opposite was true for America.
Who was the Prime Minister of Japan when the attack on Pearl Harbour took place?
Hideki Tojo was born in 1884 and died in 1948. Hideki Tojo was Prime Minister of Japan when the attack on Pearl Harbour took place plunging the Far East into a war which was to end with the destruction of Hiroshima in August 1945.
Overview
Hideki Tojo (東條 英機, Tōjō Hideki (help·info), December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and convicted war criminal who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association for most of World War II. He assumed several more positions including Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army …
Early life and education
Hideki Tojo was born in the Kōjimachi district of Tokyo on December 30, 1884, as the third son of Hidenori Tojo, a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. Under the bakufu, Japanese society was divided rigidly into four castes; the merchants, artisans, peasants and the samurai. After the Meiji Restoration, the caste system was abolished in 1871, but the former caste distinctions in many ways persisted afterwards, ensuring that those from the former samurai ca…
Military career
Upon graduating from the Japanese Military Academy (ranked 10th of 363 cadets) in March 1905, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry of the IJA. In 1918–19, Tojo briefly served in Siberia as part of the Japanese expeditionary force sent to intervene in the Russian Civil War. Tojo served as Japanese military attache to Germany between 1919 and 1922. As t…
Rise to Prime Minister
On June 1, 1940, Emperor Hirohito appointed Kōichi Kido, a leading "reform bureaucrat" as the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, making him into the Emperor's leading political advisor and fixer. Kido had aided in the creation in the 1930s of an alliance between the "reform bureaucrats" and the Army's "Control" faction centered around Tojo and General Mutō Akira. Kido's appointment also favore…
World War II
On December 8, 1941 (December 7 in the Americas), Tojo went on Japanese radio to announce that Japan was now at war with the United States, the British Empire and the Netherlands, reading out an Imperial Rescript that ended with the playing of the popular martial song Umi Yukaba (Across the Sea), which set to music a popular war poem from the classic collection Manyōshū, featuring t…
Arrest, trial, and execution
After Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, U.S. general Douglas MacArthur ordered the arrest of forty individuals suspected of war crimes, including Tojo. Five American GIs were sent to serve the arrest warrant. As American soldiers surrounded Tojo's house on September 11, he shot himself in the chest with a pistol, but missed his heart. As a result of this experience, the Army had medic…
Legacy
Tojo's commemorating tomb is located in a shrine in Hazu, Aichi (now Nishio, Aichi), and he is one of those enshrined at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.
A number of his descendants survived, including his granddaughter, Yūko Tojo, who was a political hopeful who claimed Japan's war was one of self-defense and that it was unfair that her grandfather was judged a Class-A war criminal. …
In popular culture
• During World War II, the IJAAS fighter plane known as the Nakajima Ki-44 received the Allied reporting name of "Tojo".
• In the 1945 film Blood on the Sun, Tojo is portrayed by Robert Armstrong.
• In the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, directed by Toshio Masuda, Tojo is portrayed by Asao Uchida at various events leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack.