page_title: Hideki Tojo
section_title: Appointment as Prime Minister
hierarchical_section_title: Hideki Tojo / Rise to Prime Minister / Appointment as Prime Minister
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 第一次東條内閣の閣僚。前列軍服姿が東條英機首相、彼の右隣りが鈴木貞一国務大臣、左端が嶋田繁太郎海軍大臣、右端が岸信介商工大臣English: Cabinet minister of the first Tojo Cabinet. Military uniform figure of the front row is the prime minister Hideki Tojo, his right neighbor is the Minister of State Teiichi Suzuki, the left end is the Minister of Navy Shigetarō Shimada, and right end is the Minister of Commerce and Industry Nobusuke Kishi.
context_page_description: Hideki Tojo was a Japanese politician and general of the Imperial Japanese Army who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association for most of World War II. Tojo began his career in the Army in 1905 and steadily rose through the ranks to become a general by 1934. In March 1937, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army whereby he led military operations against the Chinese in Inner Mongolia and the Chahar-Suiyan provinces. On 22 July 1940, he was appointed Minister of War in Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe’s cabinet. On the eve of conflict with the West, he was an outspoken advocate for preemptively attacking the United States and its allies. After being named Prime Minister in October 1941, he oversaw Japan’s decision to go to war and its ensuing conquest of much of Asia and the Pacific. During his years in power, he expanded his control over Japan’s ministries and military to the point of dominating national policy comparably to that of the genrō. He also presided over numerous war crimes including the systematic massacre and starvation of civilians and prisoners of war.
context_section_description: At the time, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni was said to be the only person who could control the Army and the Navy and was recommended by Konoe and Tojo as Konoe's replacement. Hirohito rejected this option, arguing that a member of the imperial family should not have to eventually carry the responsibility for a war against the West as a defeat would ruin the prestige of the House of Yamato. Following the advice of Kōichi Kido, he chose instead Tojo, who was known for his devotion to the imperial institution. By tradition, the Emperor needed a consensus among the elder statesmen or "jushin" before appointing a prime minister, and as long as former Prime Minister Admiral Keisuke Okada  was opposed to Tojo, it would be impolitic for the Emperor to appoint him. During the meetings of the jushin regarding Prince Konoe's succession, Okada argued against Tojo's appointment while the powerful Lord Privy Seal Kōichi Kido pushed for Tojo. The result was a compromise where Tojo would become Prime Minister while "re-examining" the options for dealing with the crisis with the United States, though no promise was made Tojo would attempt to avoid a war. 
  After being informed of Tojo's appointment, Prince Takamatsu wrote in his diary: "We have finally committed to war and now must do all we can to launch it powerfully. But we have clumsily telegraphed our intentions. We needn't have signaled what we're going to do; having [the entire Konoe cabinet] resign was too much. As matters stand now we can merely keep silent and without the least effort war will begin." Tojo's first speech on the radio made a call for "world peace", but also stated his determination to settle the "China Affair" on Japanese terms and to achieve the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" that would unite all of the Asian nations together.
caption: Cabinet ministers of the first Tojo Cabinet, October 1941
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