Hideki Tojo Hideki Tōjō ( Kyūjitai : ; Shinjitai : ; " " ) ( December 30 , 1884 – December 23 , 1948 ) was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai , and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II , from October 17 , 1941 to July 22 , 1944 . As Prime Minister , he was directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor , which initiated war between Japan and the United States , although planning for it had begun before he entered office . After the end of the war , Tōjō was arrested , sentenced to death for Japanese war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East , and was hanged on December 23 , 1948 . Biography . Hideki Tōjō was born in the Kōjimachi district of Tokyo on December 30 , 1884 as the third son of Hidenori Tōjō , a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army . After 1941 he would change his given name from the Chinese - inspired " Eiki " to the traditionally more Japanese " Hideki " ( see " on ' yomi " ) . In 1899 , Tōjō entered the Army Cadet School . When he graduated from the Japanese Military Academy ( ranked 10th of 363 cadets ) in March 1905 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry of the IJA . In 1909 , he married Katsuko Ito , with whom he would have three sons and four daughters . By 1928 , he had become the bureau chief of the Japanese Army , and was shortly thereafter promoted to colonel . He began to take an interest in militarist politics during his command of the 1st Infantry Regiment . As general . In 1933 , Tōjō was promoted to major general and served as Chief of the Personnel Department within the Army Ministry . He was appointed commander of the IJA 24th Infantry Brigade in August 1934 . In September 1935 , Tōjō assumed top command of the Kempeitai of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria . Politically , he was fascist , nationalist , and militarist , and was nicknamed , for his reputation for a sharp , legalistic mind capable of making quick decisions . During the February 26 coup attempt of 1936 , Tōjō and Shigeru Honjō , a noted supporter of Sadao Araki , both opposed the rebels . Emperor Hirohito himself was outraged at the attacks on his close advisers , and after a brief political crisis and stalling on the part of a sympathetic military , the rebels were forced to surrender . In the aftermath , the Tōseiha faction was able to purge the Army of radical officers , and the coup leaders were tried and executed . Following the purge , Tōseiha and Kōdōha elements were unified in their nationalist but highly anti - political stance under the banner of the Kōdōha military clique , with Tōjō in the leadership position . Tōjō was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army in 1937 . As Chief of Staff , Tōjō was responsible for the military operations designed to increase Japanese penetration into the Inner Mongolia border regions with Manchukuo . In July 1937 , he personally led the units of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade in Operation Chahar , his only real combat experience . After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident marking the start of the Second Sino - Japanese War , Tōjō ordered his forces to attack Hopei and other targets in northern China . Tōjō received Jewish refugees in accordance with Japanese national policy and rejected the resulting Nazi German protests . Tōjō was recalled to Japan in May 1938 to serve as Vice - Minister of War under Army Minister Seishirō Itagaki . From December 1938 to 1940 , Tōjō was Inspector - General of Army Aviation . Rise to Prime Minister . On July 22 , 1940 , Tōjō was appointed Army Minister in the second Fumimaro Konoe regime , and remained in that post in the third Konoe cabinet . He was a strong supporter of the Tripartite Pact between Japan , Nazi Germany , and Fascist Italy . As the Army Minister , he continued to vastly expand the grueling war with China . After negotiations with Vichy France , Japan was given permission to place its troops in French Indochina in July 1941 . In spite of its formal recognition of the Vichy government , the United States retaliated against Japan by imposing economic sanctions in August , including a total embargo on oil and gasoline exports . On September 6 , a deadline of early October was fixed in the Imperial Conference for resolving the situation diplomatically . On October 14 , the deadline had passed with no progress . Prime Minister Konoe then held his last cabinet meeting , where Tōjō did most of the talking : The prevailing opinion within the Japanese Army at that time was that continued negotiations could be dangerous . However , Hirohito thought that he might be able to control extreme opinions in the army by using the charismatic and well - connected Tōjō , who had expressed reservations regarding war with the West , although the Emperor himself was skeptical that Tōjō would be able to avoid conflict . On October 13 , he declared to Kōichi Kido : " There seems little hope in the present situation for the Japan - U . S . negotiations . This time , if hostilities erupt , I might have to issue a declaration of war . " On October 16 , Konoe , politically isolated and convinced that the Emperor no longer trusted him , resigned . Later , he justified himself to his chief cabinet secretary , Kenji Tomita : 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 Tōjō 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 . Following the advice of Kōichi Kido , he chose instead Tōjō , who was known for his devotion to the imperial institution . The Emperor summoned Tōjō to the Imperial Palace one day before Tōjō took office . Tōjō wrote in his diary : " I thought I was summoned because the Emperor was angry at my opinion . " He was given one order from the Emperor : To make a policy review of what had been sanctioned by the Imperial Conferences . Tōjō , who was on the side of the war , nevertheless accepted this order , and pledged to obey . According to Colonel Akiho Ishii , a member of the Army General Staff , the Prime Minister showed a true sense of loyalty to the emperor performing this duty . For example , when Ishii received from Hirohito a communication saying the Army should drop the idea of stationing troops in China to counter military operations of Western powers , he wrote a reply for the Prime Minister for his audience with the Emperor . Tōjō then replied to Ishii : " If the Emperor said it should be so , then that ' s it for me . One cannot recite arguments to the Emperor . You may keep your finely phrased memorandum . " On November 2 , Tōjō and Chiefs of Staff Hajime Sugiyama and Osami Nagano reported to Hirohito that the review had been in vain . The Emperor then gave his consent to war . The next day , Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano explained in detail the Pearl Harbor attack to Hirohito . The eventual plan drawn up by Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff envisaged such a mauling of the Western powers that Japanese defense perimeter lines — operating on interior lines of communications and inflicting heavy Western casualties — could not be breached . In addition , the Japanese fleet which attacked Pearl Harbor was under orders from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to be prepared to return to Japan on a moment ' s notice , should negotiations succeed . Two days later on November 5 , Hirohito approved the operations plan for a war against the West and continued to hold meetings with the military and Tōjō until the end of the month . On December 1 , another conference finally sanctioned the " war against the United States , England , and Holland " . As Prime Minister . Tōjō continued to hold the position of Army Minister during his term as Prime Minister , from October 17 , 1941 to July 22 , 1944 . He also served concurrently as Home Minister from 1941 – 1942 , Foreign Minister in September 1942 , Education Minister in 1943 , and Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1943 . As Education Minister , he continued militaristic and nationalist indoctrination in the national education system , and reaffirmed totalitarian policies in government . As Home Minister , he ordered various eugenics measures ( including the sterilization of the " mentally unfit " ) . His popularity was sky - high in the early years of the war , as Japanese forces went from one great victory to another . However , after the Battle of Midway , with the tide of war turning against Japan , Tōjō faced increasing opposition from within the government and military . To strengthen his position , in February 1944 , Tōjō assumed the post of Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff . However , after the fall of Saipan , he was forced to resign on 18 July 1944 . Capture , trial , and execution . After Japan ' s unconditional surrender in 1945 , U . S . general Douglas MacArthur issued orders for the arrest of the first forty alleged war criminals , including Tōjō . Soon , Tōjō ' s home in Setagaya was besieged with newsmen and photographers . Three American GI ' s ( Corporal Paul Korol , Private First Class John Potkul , and Private First Class James Safford ) and two Office of Strategic Services ( O . S . S . ) Officers ( one of whom was John J . Wilpers , Jr . , who received the Bronze Star for his efforts at age 90 in 2010 and died in 2013 ) were sent to serve the arrest warrant on Tojo . Two American war correspondents ( Hugh Bailey and Russell Braun ) had previously interviewed Tojo and were also present when the attempt was made to serve the arrest warrant . It was not until approximately two hours after his suicide attempt that military police and a physician attended to Tojo . Thereafter , when the subsequent arrest was to occur for Admiral Shimada , military police , a physician , and an ambulance were included in that arrest process as they learned from Tojo ' s suicide attempt . Inside , a doctor named Suzuki had marked Tōjō ' s chest with charcoal to indicate the location of his heart . When American military police surrounded the house on 8 September 1945 , they heard a muffled shot from inside . Major Paul Kraus and a group of military police burst in , followed by George Jones , a reporter for " The New York Times " . Tōjō had shot himself in the chest with a pistol , but despite shooting directly through the mark , the bullets missed his heart and penetrated his stomach . Now disarmed and with blood gushing out of his chest , Tōjō began to talk , and two Japanese reporters recorded his murmured words : " I am very sorry it is taking me so long to die . The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous . I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers . I wait for the righteous judgment of history . I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails . " Tōjō was arrested and underwent emergency surgery in a U . S . Army hospital . After recovering from his injuries , Tōjō was moved to Sugamo Prison . While there he received a new set of dentures made by an American dentist . Secretly the phrase " " Remember Pearl Harbor " " had been drilled into the teeth in Morse code . Tōjō was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes and found guilty of the following : Hideki Tōjō accepted full responsibility in the end for his actions during the war , and made this speech : Tōjō was sentenced to death on November 12 , 1948 and executed by hanging 41 days later on December 23 , 1948 . Before his execution he gave his military ribbons to Private First Class Kincaid , one of his guards ; they are now on display in the National Museum for Naval Aviation in Pensacola , FL . In his final statements , he apologized for the atrocities committed by the Japanese military and urged the American military to show compassion toward the Japanese people , who had suffered devastating air attacks and the two atomic bombings . Many historians criticize the work done by General Douglas MacArthur and his staff to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family from criminal prosecutions . According to them , MacArthur and Brigadier General Bonner Fellers worked to protect the Emperor and shift ultimate responsibility to Tōjō . According to the written report of Shūichi Mizota , interpreter for Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai , Fellers met the two men at his office on 6 March 1946 and told Yonai : " It would be most convenient if the Japanese side could prove to us that the Emperor is completely blameless . I think the forthcoming trials offer the best opportunity to do that . Tōjō , in particular , should be made to bear all responsibility at this trial . " The sustained intensity of this campaign to protect the Emperor was revealed when , in testifying before the tribunal on December 31 , 1947 , Tōjō momentarily strayed from the agreed - upon line concerning imperial innocence and referred to the Emperor ' s ultimate authority . The American - led prosecution immediately arranged that he be secretly coached to recant this testimony . Ryūkichi Tanaka , a former general who testified at the trial and had close connections with chief prosecutor Joseph B . Keenan , was used as an intermediary to persuade Tōjō to revise his testimony . Legacy . Tōjō ' s commemorating tomb is located in a shrine in Hazu , Aichi ( now Nishio , Aichi ) , and he is one of those enshrined at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine . His ashes are divided between Yasukuni Shrine and Zōshigaya Cemetery in Toshima ward , Tokyo . He was survived by a number of his descendants , including his granddaughter , Yūko Tōjō , a right - wing nationalist and political hopeful who claimed Japan ' s war was one of self - defense and that it was unfair that her grandfather was judged a Class - A war criminal . Tōjō ' s second son , Teruo Tōjō , who designed fighter and passenger aircraft during and after the war , eventually served as an executive at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries . Depictions in fiction . In Japanese culture , depictions of Hideki Tojo have varied in tone and style throughout the years . In " Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! " , directed by Toshio Masuda , he is portrayed by Asao Uchida at various events leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack . In 1970 ' s " The Militarists " , directed by Hiromichi Horikawa , Hideki Tojo is portrayed by Keiju Kobayashi as a tyrant , and in an alternate history angle , stays Prime Minister until the end of the war . In 1981 ' s " The Imperial Japanese Empire " , Hideki Tojo is portrayed by Tetsuro Tamba as a family man who single - handedly planned the war against America , and the film deals with his war crimes trial . In 2012 ' s " Emperor " , Hideki Tojo is portrayed by Shôhei Hino . Honours . " From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia "