Tojo

Hideki Tojo

Hideki “The Razor” Tojo was born in Tokyo, Japan on December 30, 1884. His father who Hidenori Tojo, a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. Tojo had two older brothers who died before his birth. In 1909, he married Katsuko Ito. He had four daughters and three sons.

Tojo attended Japanese Military Staff College where he quickly rose to power. In 1909, was appointed the Second Lieutenant in the infantry. In 1915, he was promoted to commander of the 3rd Imperial Guards Regiment. After spending three years in Germany as a military attaché and an officer where he became a strong supporter of Nazism, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In the 1920s, Tojo became engaged in Army politics. He was a leading member of the Tetsuzan Nagata, Tōseiha, Hajime Sugiyama, Kuniaki Koiso, Kazushige Ugaki, and Yoshijirō Umezu. As a result of the February 26 Incident of 1936, where Tojo and Shigeru Honjō led an attack on the coup who attacked Emperor Hirohito’s close advisors, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army.

By 1940, he became Japan’s Minister of War. He sought to be like Hitler. He was devoted to increasing Japan’s power. By 1941, he was appointed Prime Minister. Tojo had an extreme dislike for the United States like many Japanese people of that time. Tojo believed that the United States needed discipline and they were lazy. He despised there presence in the Pacific Ocean overall. As a result, he allowed the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, Japan was not ready for retaliation. When the United States dropped the atomic bombs, Tojo got much of the blame. In 1944, Tojo resigned from office. On September 1945 after failing to commit suicide, Tojo was found guilty of seven counts including count 54 which is ordering cruel treatment of Prisoners of War. He was hung on December 23, 1948.

Reference Page

Browne, Courtney. Tojo. New York: Da...