(All in Tokyo)Some Past Japanese Prime Ministers
SECTION I: MAKOTO SAITO (1932 - 1934)
Imperial Navy Full Admiral Makoto Saito assumed office of the prime minister of the Empire of Japan between 1932 and 1934.
He was so chosen by Imperial elder statesman Kinmochi Saionji who recommended Showa Emperor to appoint Admiral Saito as prime minister, since Emperor had told beforehand that those close to fascism must not be candidates for the next prime minister.
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Following the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi on May 15, 1932 by fanatical navy officers who thought Inukai far too conciliatory (the May 15 Incident), Prince Saionji Kinmochi, one of the Emperor's closest and strongest advisors, attempted to stop the slide towards a military take-over of the government. In a compromise move, SaitÅ was chosen to be Inukai's successor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sait%C5%8D_Makoto
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It is interesting that in the wake of the great financial crisis on Wall Street in 1929, Saito from not-highly-industrialized Tohoku region became prime minister, but suffered a political and financial scandal on which his opponents strongly accused the Saito Cabinet.
However, after Saito's resignation, it seems that the scandal was completely forgotten by his opponents.
Internationally, the Saito Cabinet was not popular, since his Cabinet supported and recognized the independence of Manchukuo, and decided a controversial withdrawal from the League of Nations.
Yet, Prime Minister Saito managed the Empire of Japan without joining military extremists but competing with those who might have resorted to domestic terror.
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Saito continued to be an important figure in politics as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal from December 26, 1935 but was assassinated during the February 26 Incident of 1936 at his home in Yotsuya, Tokyo.
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In 1936, some officers of the Imperial Army tried coup d'etat, claiming that they were going to save poor farmers and citizens under the Great Depression by punishing rotten political and military leaders of the Empire of Japan. Yet, their act of military violence in the Imperial capital Tokyo extremely alarmed Showa Emperor, which destined the fate of revolting officers who led 1,500 soldiers illegally.
Yet, the incident also paved the way for militarism, a great driving factor for the wars deep into China and around the Pacific Ocean areas during WWII, since modest or liberal politicians and generals such as Saito were suppressed or wiped away in the Empire of Japan through those incidents in 1930's.
SECTION II: KANTARO SUZUKI (April 1945 - August 1945)
It was Imperial Navy Full Admiral Kantaro Suzuki that was prime minister of the Empire of Japan when the Empire surrendered to the U.S. and its allies in August 1945 days after the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the betrayal of the USSR abolishing the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact to join the allied.
When the Potsdam Declaration was announced in July 1945, prime minister Suzuki could not accept it as it was, though he had assumed the premiership with clear intention to put an end to WWII for the Empire of Japan.
As an official response to the Potsdam Declaration, prime minister Suzuki said, virtually, "I cannot take it up for the time being; neither acceptance nor rejection to be decided for a while."
But, the U.S. and its allies interpreted his word as rejection. No diplomatic efforts were made while the Suzuki Cabinet had been formed not for continuation but for termination of the war. Hence, the atomic bomb attacks were authorized and the Soviet Union was welcomed to abolish the treaty with Japan and invade Manchukuo, Sakhalin, and Kurile Islands just days before the surrender of the Empire of Japan.
The Empire of Japan decided to surrender at a special meeting held in an underground room of the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, where the six highest-ranking leaders of the Empire discussed the matter before Showa Emperor and voted for the decision, resulting in three to three for peace and war.
So, prime minister Suzuki respectfully asked Showa Emperor, an act rarely practiced, as to his will. Emperor told that his mind is the same as that of the Minister of Imperial Navy who voted for peace.
Accordingly, the Empire of Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, without resorting to the final and decisive battle on Japan proper.
Just like Full Admiral Kantaro Suzuki had survived the terror carried out on February 26, 1936, though having been shot twice or three times by revolting officers, many Japanese people could survive except three million soldiers and civilians having been already victimized.
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If you ask educated Japanese whether the February 26 incident of 1936 is the gravest historical incident of the Empire of Japan before WWII, 99% of them would say it is so.
But, of course, if you ask non-Japanese educated persons in the world whether the February 26 incident of 1936 is the gravest historical incident of the Empire of Japan before WWII, more than 99% of them would say, "What is the February 26 incident of 1936?"
The February 26 incident of 1936 in the Empire of Japan meant that even generals and admirals of the Imperial Military could be a target of militarist terror if they had looked conciliatory to non-militarist camps, including a pro-America faction, a pro-socialist faction, and a pro-peace faction.
And, what spurred this militarism is anger to rotten business leaders and politicians who were ultimately protected by the Imperial Military.
And this anger and corruption in the Empire of Japan were both magnified by the Great Depression originated on Wall Street in 1929.
At the core of this part of history, there were some unbelievably evil but foolish guys (including some Chinese and Americans) who exploited both the anger and the corruption without minding the possible or actual wars of the Empire of Japan with China and the U.S. in 1930's and early 1940's.
(Showa Emperor of Japan is said to have not so much loved classical music. But, Japan's Former Prime Minister Mr. Junichiro Koizumi is said to love so much classical music. When I was young, I loved so much classical music and then started to love Christian music. But, Islam is nice without relying on music. If everybody is silent, it is far better, I honestly believe.
http://www.lvbeethoven-music.com/Beethoven-Midi/DanielLViens/Symphonie9_Opus125_Mvt3_Choral.mid
Source: http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Oeuvres/Music-Midi-Mp3-Symphonies.html)
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.