Mitsumasa Yonai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mitsumasa Yonai | |
 Prime Minister of Japan |
|
|
|
|
| In office 16 January 1940 – 22 July 1940 |
|
| Preceded by | Nobuyuki Abe |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Fumimaro Konoe |
|
|
|
| Born | 2 March 1880 Morioka, Iwate, Japan |
| Died | 20 April 1948 |
| Political party | none |
| Occupation | Admiral, Imperial Japanese Navy |
- This is a Japanese name; the family name is Yonai.
Mitsumasa Yonai (米内光政 Yonai Mitsumasa?) (2 March 1880 - 20 April 1948) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and politician. He was the 37th Prime Minister of Japan from 16 January 1940 to 22 July 1940.
Contents |
[edit] Early life & Naval career
Yonai was born in Morioka city, Iwate Prefecture as the first son of an ex-samurai of the Morioka domain. He graduated from Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1901, and was promoted to the rank of Ensign in January 1903. He served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, during which time he promoted to Lieutenant (jg) in July 1904.
After his promotion to lieutenant commander in December 1912, he graduated from the Naval War College and was assigned as military attaché and Resident Naval Officer to Russia and Poland during the height of World War I, from 1915-1917.
While overseas, he was promoted to Commander; after the collapse of the Russian Empire, he was recalled to Japan to take command of the Sasebo Naval District.
Appointed to the Navy General Staff in 1918, he rose to the rank of Captain in December 1920. He was captain of the Japanese battleship Mutsu from November 1924 to December 1925. He became Chief of Staff and Rear Admiral commanding the Japanese Second Fleet in December 1925. Within the Navy General Staff, he served on the Technical Council of the Navy Technical Department.
He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the First Expeditionary Fleet, sent to the Yangtze River in China in December 1928. Following the success of this mission, he was promoted to Vice-Admiral in December 1930 and placed in command of the Chinkai Naval Station, in Korea.
Yonai was given command of the Japanse Third Fleet in December 1932, following which he again commanded the Sasebo Naval District (November 1933), Japanese Second Fleet (November 1934) and Yokosuka Naval District (December 1935) before receiving appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet and concurrently the Japanese First Fleet in December 1936.
While in command at Sasebo, the Japanese Navy was shaken by the Tomozuru Incident, when it was determined that the basic design of the Chidori-class torpedo boats was flawed, thus calling into question the basic designs of many of the warships in the Japanese navy.
While in command at Yokosuka, the February 26 Incident erupted in Tokyo. Yonai was visiting his mistress in Shimbashi the night the attempted coup d'État began, only a couple of blocks away, but knew nothing of the situation until he returned to base the following morning.
[edit] Naval Minister
Yonai became full Admiral in April 1937 and Navy Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hayashi Senjuro in 1937. He served in the same position under the subsequent first Konoye Fumimaro and Hiranuma Kiichiro administrations, through August 1939.
After Abe Nobuyuki became Prime Minister, Yonai remained on the Supreme War Council. While Navy Minister, Yonai was known as a man of few words. His speeches tended to be short, and were delivered in his almost indecipherable Nambu accent. Written records of his speeches are only about half the length of his contemporaries.
As Navy Minister, Yonai was alarmed by the growing tension between Japan and Great Britain and the United States, at a time when the bulk of the Imperial Japanese Army was tied down in an apparently unending quagmire in China. His efforts to promote peace made him unpopular with ultranationalist extremists, and (as with Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku), he was the target of several assassination attempts. However, Yonai supported the construction of the Yamato class battleships in an effort to maintain a military balance with the world’s other two naval superpowers.
[edit] Prime Minister of Japan
Yonai was appointed Prime Minister of Japan from 6 January 1940, largely with the backing of Emperor Hirohito. As Prime Minister, he continued the strong pro-British, pro-American stance he held as Navy Minister and continued his strong opposition to the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.
Yonai was forced to resign on 21 July 1940, largely due to pressure from the pro-Axis Imperial Japanese Army. The Tripartite Pact was signed on 27 September 1940.
[edit] Subsequent political activity
Yonai served as Deputy Prime Minister and concurrently as Navy Minister under the cabinet of Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki from 22 July 1944, during which time he returned to the active duty roster from the reserve list. By this time, Saipan had fallen to the Americans.
Yonai remained Navy Minister under the administration of Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki. In the last few weeks before Japan's surrender, he sided with Prime Minister Suzuki and Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo in support of acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration in opposition to Minister of War Korechika Anami, Chief of Staff Admiral Soemu Toyoda and General Yoshijiro Umezu.
Yonai remained Navy Minister in the cabinets of Prime Minister Higashikuni Naruhiko and Kijuro Shidehara from August 1945, during which time he presided over the final dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Yonai suffered from high blood pressure most of his life, but he died of pneumonia in 1948 at the age of 68. His grave is located in his hometown of Morioka.
His honors include the Order of the Golden Kite (first class) and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
[edit] References
- Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Penguin (Non-Classics); Reissue edition (2001). ISBN: 0141001461
- Spector, Ronald. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan. Vintage; Vintage edition (1985). ISBN: 0394741013
- Takada, Makiko. Showa Tenno to Yonai Mitsumasa to. Hara Shobo (1995). ISBN: 4562026944
- Takagi, Sokichi. Yamamoto Isoroku to Yonai Mitsumasa: Fu rengo kantai shimatsuki. Kojinsha (1982). ISBN: 4769801734
[edit] External links
- National Diet Library photos and biography
- Annotated bibliography for Mitsumasa Yonai from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
| Preceded by Osami Nagano |
Minister of the Navy of Japan Feb 1937–Aug 1939 |
Succeeded by Zengo Yoshida |
| Preceded by Naokuni Nomura |
Minister of the Navy of Japan Jul 1944–Dec 1945 |
Succeeded by (none) |
| Prime Ministers of Japan |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Itō · Kuroda · Yamagata · Matsukata · Itō (2nd) · Matsukata (2nd) · Itō (3rd) · Okuma · Yamagata (2nd) · Itō (4th) · Katsura · Saionji · Katsura (2nd) · Saionji (2nd) · Katsura (3rd) · Yamamoto · Okuma (2nd) · Terauchi · Hara · Takahashi · To. Kato · Yamamoto (2nd) · Kiyoura · Ta. Kato · Wakatsuki · G. Tanaka · Hamaguchi · Wakatsuki (2nd) · Inukai · Saitō · Okada · Hirota · Hayashi · Konoe · Hiranuma · N. Abe · Yonai · Konoe (2nd) · Tojo · Koiso · K. Suzuki · Prince Higashikuni · Shidehara · Yoshida · Katayama · Ashida · Yoshida (2nd) · Hatoyama · Ishibashi · Kishi · Ikeda · Sato · K. Tanaka · Miki · Fukuda · Ohira · Z. Suzuki · Nakasone · Takeshita · Uno · Kaifu · Miyazawa · Hosokawa · Hata · Murayama · Hashimoto · Obuchi · Mori · Koizumi · S. Abe | ||
