Hideki Tōjō

Hideki Tōjō (30 December 1884 – 23 December 1948) was the Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II.

Tojo Hideki
東條 英機
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 17 October 1941 – 22 July 1944
Monarch	Shōwa
Preceded by	Fumimaro Konoe
Succeeded by	Kuniaki Koiso
Minister of War
In office 22 July 1940 – 22 July 1944
Monarch	Shōwa
Prime Minister	Fumimaro Konoe (1940–1941) Himself (1941–1944)
Preceded by	Shunroku Hata
Succeeded by	Hajime Sugiyama
Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office
In office 21 February 1944 – 18 July 1944
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Hajime Sugiyama
Succeeded by	Yoshijirō Umezu
Personal details
Born	(1884-12-30)December 30, 1884 Kōjimachi ward, Tokyo, Empire of Japan
Died	December 23, 1948(1948-12-23) (aged 63) Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, Occupied Japan
Cause of death	Execution by hanging[1]
Political party	Imperial Rule Assistance Association (1940–1945)
Other political affiliations	Independent (before 1940)
Spouse(s)	Katsuko Ito ​ (m. 1909)​
Children	3 sons, 4 daughters
Mother	Chitose Tojo
Father	Hidenori Tojo
Alma mater	Imperial Japanese Army Academy Army War College
Awards	Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class Order of the Sacred Treasure
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Branch/service	Imperial Japanese Army
Rank	General
Commands	Kwantung Army (1932–1934)
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Japanese invasion of Manchuria February 26 Incident Second Sino-Japanese War Operation Chahar World War II
Criminal details
Target	Chinese People
Victims	+5.000.000
Period	1941–1944
Penalty	Capital punishment
Imprisoned	Sugamo Prison

Hideki Tōjō was born on 30 December 1884 in Tokyo, Japan. He was the third son of a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army named Hidenori Tōjō. Tōjō had two older brothers but they died before he was born.

In 1909, he married a woman named Katsuko Ito and he had seven children with her: three sons and four daughters.^[2]

In the late 1930s, Hideki Tōjō fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War, leading Japanese forces in occupied Manchuria. He returned to Tokyo in 1940 and held ministerial posts, where he urged an alliance with Germany and Italy against the Allied forces. Tojo became Prime Minister in 1941 and within two months ordered a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He followed it with a declaration of war against the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands.

After Japan surrendered, American troops went to arrest Tojo and surrounded his house. He shot himself four times in the chest, but missed and the bullets hit his stomach. Disarmed and with blood gushing out of his chest, Tojo began to talk. He said, "I am very sorry it is taking me so long to die. The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous. I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers. I wait for the righteous judgment of history. I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails."^[3]

After his injuries healed, the Allies found Tojo guilty of war crimes and hanged him in Tokyo on 23 December 1948.^[4]

References

1. Yenne, p. 337. sfn error: no target: CITEREFYenne (help)
2. Baudot, Marcel. The Historical encyclopedia of World War II. p. 455.
3. Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936–1945. p. 871–872.
4. "Japanese war crimes trial begins". History. Retrieved 2013-12-22.

Other websites

Media related to Hideki Tōjō at Wikimedia Commons

• WW2DB: Hideki Tojo