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General
Hideki Tojo |
1884
- 1948 |
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 |
Prime
Minister, Chief of Staff of the Army, and Minister
of War from October 1941 until July 1944. Tojo
could almost be described as the dictator of Japan.
He was the principal director of all Japanese
war operations. When military fortunes began to
turn against Japan he attempted to stabilize his
position by handing over his post of Minister
of War to Umezu. However after the fall of Saipan
in July 1944 he resigned his remaining posts and
was succeeded by Koiso. After his resignation
he attempted to commit suicide, he lived, but
only to be found guilty of war crimes by the Allies
and was hanged. |
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Lt
General Kuniaki Koiso |
1880
- 1950 |
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Appointed
Prime Minister after the fall of Tojo in 1944,
Koiso was almost a token Prime Minister as he
was not party to any military decisions. He was
not popular with either government ministers who
favoured making peace, nor with those who wished
to prosecute the war until the bitter end. He
resigned in April 1945 after his demands to be
included in military decisions were rejected. |
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Kantaro
Suzuki |
1867
- 1948 |
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Suzuki
became Prime Minister in April 1945 after the
collapse of Koiso's premiership. He was one of
the Japanese leaders who were in favour of peace,
and it was he who finally asked Emperor Hirohito
to decide on the surrender of Japan. Suzuki resigned
after the surrender was announced. |
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General
Yoshijiro Umezu |
1880
- 1949 |
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|
Chief
of Staff of the Army from July 1944. Previously
he had been Minister of War when Tojo relinquised
this post. Umezu was one of the government leaders
who were in favour of continuing the war as long
as possible. He was a reluctant participant in
the signing of the Japanese instrument of surrender
on the USS Missouri. |
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Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto |
1884
-1943 |
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 |
Minister
of the Navy and Commander in Chief of the 1st
Fleet. Yamamoto was the architect of the Japanese
carrier forces and planned the surprise attack
on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour. Yamamoto
was killed when his aircraft was shot down following
the discovery of his flight plans by the Americans
in April 1943. |
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British
| Soviets
| Germans
| Italians
| USA |
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