Fumio Gotō

Fumio Gotō (後藤 文夫, Gotō Fumio, 7 March 1884 – 13 May 1980)^[1]) was a Japanese politician and bureaucrat, and briefly served as interim Prime Minister of Japan in 1936.

Fumio Gotō
後藤 文夫
Member of the House of Councillors
In office 24 April 1953 – 2 June 1959
Preceded by	Jinzo Iwao
Succeeded by	Haruzo Murakami
Constituency	Oita
Prime Minister of Japan Acting
In office 26 February 1936 – 29 February 1936
Monarch	Shōwa
Preceded by	Keisuke Okada
Succeeded by	Keisuke Okada
Personal details
Born	(1884-03-07)7 March 1884 Ōita, Japan
Died	13 May 1980(1980-05-13) (aged 96) Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Imperial Rule Assistance Association (1940–1945)
Other political affiliations	Independent (Before 1940)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University

Biography

Born in Ōita Prefecture, Gotō was a graduate of the Law School of Tokyo Imperial University in 1909. During his early career in the 1920s, he worked in the Home Ministry, and was Director of Administration within the office of the Governor-General of Taiwan.

In the 1930s, Gotō was appointed to a seat in the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. He served as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries between 1932 and 1934 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Makoto Saitō, and was later Home Minister in the cabinet of Keisuke Okada.

Immediately after the 26 February Incident, Gotō served as acting Prime Minister while Prime Minister Okada was in hiding from his attempted assassins. He was chairman of the Taisei Yokusankai from 1941–1943, and under the administration of Hideki Tōjō, he served as a Minister of State.

Arrested by the American occupation authorities after the surrender of Japan, he was held in Sugamo Prison in Tokyo awaiting prosecution for war crimes, but was released in 1948 without trial. From April 1953 to June 1959, he served as a member of House of Councillors in the post-war Diet of Japan. He was appointed a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in November 1971.

Honours

From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (24 April 1934; Third Class: 26 August 1926; Fourth Class: 1 November 1920)
• Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon (3 November 1960)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (3 November 1971; Fifth Class: 1 April 1916; Sixth Class: 19 January 1916)

References

1. 後藤文夫 (in Japanese)

• Bix, Herbert P. (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0060931302.
• Sims, Richard (2001). Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312239157.
• van Wolferen, Karel (1990). The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0679728023.

Political offices
Preceded by Keisuke Okada	Prime Minister of Japan (Acting) 1936	Succeeded by Keisuke Okada
Preceded by Yamamoto Tatsuo	Minister of Home Affairs 8 July 1934 – 9 March 1936	Succeeded by Shigenosuke Ushio
Preceded by Teijirō Yamamoto	Minister of Agriculture & Forestry 26 May 1932 – 8 July 1934	Succeeded by Tatsunosuke Yamazaki