寺内寿一
After another map exercise in Singapore on 23 December 1943, Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi (Commander in Chief of Southern Expeditionary Army Group) approved the plan. Inada's replacement, Lieutenant General Kitsuju Ayabe, was despatched to Imperial Army HQ to gain approval. Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō gave final sanction after questioning a staff officer over aspects of the plan from his bath.