page_title: Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni
section_title: Prime Minister
hierarchical_section_title: Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni / Prime Minister
caption_attribution_description: A cabinet minister of Cabinet of HIH Prince Naruhiko of Higashikuni. (from the front row left Prince Naruhiko, Mamoru Shigemitsu, Mitsumasa Yonai, Chikuhei Nakajima, Fumimaro Konoe, Chuzo Iwata; Kenzo Matsumura, Kotaro Sengoku, Iwao Yamasaki, Juichi Tsushima, Naoto Kohiyama, Taketora Ogata from the back row left. The last line Naokai Murase).
context_page_description: General Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet and was the last general officer of the Imperial Japanese military to become Prime Minister. He was the founder of the Chiba Institute of Technology.
context_section_description: After the course of the war turned against Japan, and the decision was made to accept the Potsdam Declaration, Emperor Hirohito appointed Prince Higashikuni to the position of prime minister on 16 August 1945, replacing Admiral Kantarō Suzuki. The mission of the Higashikuni cabinet was twofold: first, to ensure the orderly cessation of hostilities and demobilization of the Japanese armed forces; and second, to reassure the Japanese people that the imperial institution remained secure. Prince Higashikuni resigned in October over a dispute with the American occupation forces over the repeal of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law.
caption: Higashikuni's cabinet with Mamoru Shigemitsu, Mitsumasa Yonai and Fumimaro Konoe in front row.
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