was a prominent right-wing Japanese

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Sta ...

in 1939. He was convicted of war crimes committed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Early life

Hiranuma was born in what is now Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture, as the son of a low-ranking

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

from the

Tsuyama Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Mimasaka Province in modern-day Okayama Prefecture.Mimasaka Province or was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today northeastern Okayama Prefecture. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū, Bizen, Harima, Hōki, and Inaba Provinces. Mimasaka was landlocked, and was often ruled by the ''daimyō'' in Bize ...

. He graduated with a degree in English law from

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in 1888. After graduation, he obtained a posting in the Ministry of Justice. In 1911, he was the prosecutor for the High Treason Incident, the 1910 socialist-anarchist plot to assassinate Japanese Emperor Meiji. The closed-court trial of 25 men and 1 woman, including 4 Buddhist monks, resulted in the execution of 12, including the feminist author Kanno Suga.

Ministry of Justice

Hiranuma established a reputation during his time at the Ministry of Justice as a strong opponent of government corruption and successfully handled a number of high-profile cases. He served as the director of the Tokyo High Court,

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

of the Supreme Court, and Director of the Civil and Criminal Affairs Bureau. In 1909, he secured the conviction of 25 former and serving members of the Diet of Japan for accepting bribes from the Japan Sugar Company. He rose to become Vice Minister of Justice in 1911 and Public Prosecutor-general in 1912. In 1915, he forced Home Minister Ōura Kanetake in the cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Ōkuma Shigenobu to resign for suspected bribery. Hiranuma was highly outspoken against the corruption and immorality in Japan's political parties, and that attitude soon expanded to include what he perceived to be threatening foreign influences, such as

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

and

liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

. With

Sadao Araki Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. As one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the polit ...

, Hiranuma created the '' Kokuhonsha'' group and participated in other nationalist groups. In 1921, Hiranuma became chief of the Supreme Court of Japan. Hiranuma was

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

under the second Yamamoto administration from September 1923 to January 1924. In that capacity, he promoted the creation of the Tokkō to combat

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, socialism, and the spread of what he considered subversive ideologies. In 1924, he became chairman of the House of Peers and was also appointed to the Privy Council. In 1926, he was elevated to the title of ''danshaku'' ( baron) under the '' kazoku'' peerage system.

Privy Councilor

Hiranuma served on the Privy Council for over 10 years and exerted considerable behind-the-scenes influence. He was strongly opposed to Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō's efforts at economic reform. He was also strongly opposed to the ratification of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. In 1931, he rallied support within the government for the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

after the army had seized control of Manchuria without prior authorization, and he later helped in the creation of Manchukuo. He also pushed for Japan's withdrawal from the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. According to one theory, he in 1934 he directed the prosecution during the Teijin Incident. In 1936, Hiranuma was appointed as President of the Privy Council.

Prime minister

Japanese Prime Minister Kiichirō Hiranuma (1867–1952, in office January–August 1939, center, front row) and the members of his cabinet, on the inaugural day of his administration. Hiranuma was

from 5 January 1939 to 30 August 1939. As Prime Minister, his administration was dominated by the debate on whether or not Japan should ally itself with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to neutralize the threat posed to Japan by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Hiranuma wanted an anticommunist pact but feared that a military alliance would commit Japan to war against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

when most its armed forces were committed to the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. With the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939, Hiranuma's cabinet resigned over that foreign policy issue and over the massive defeat of the Japanese Army in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

during the

Nomonhan Incident The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; mn, Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Jap ...

against the Soviet Union.

Home Minister

Hiranuma returned to the government after his resignation as Prime Minister by being Home Minister in the second

Konoe Fumimaro Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...

administration from 21 December 1940 to 18 July 1941. As Home Minister, he was a staunch defender of State Shinto. Hiranuma declared: "We should research the ancient rites in detail and consider their application in administrative affairs in general and the common life of the nation." However, Hiranuma was strongly opposed to the political and diplomatic actions of Foreign Minister

Yōsuke Matsuoka was a Japanese diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in February 1933, ending Japan's participation in the organ ...

and to the Tripartite Pact between

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, and Fascist Italy in 1940. He withdrew from the government on the resignation of Konoe in October 1941.

''Jushin''

Hiranuma served as one of the ''jushin'' (重臣), or unofficial senior advisors, to Hirohito during

. Hiranuma saw the ''jushin'' as the core of a new group of ''

genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras in Japanese history. The institution of ''genrō ...

'' advisors, as the last surviving

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

''genrō'', Prince Saionji Kinmochi, had died in November 1940. The new group included former Prime Ministers

Mitsumasa Yonai was a Japanese general and politician. He served as admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Minister of the Navy, and Prime Minister of Japan in 1940. Early life and career Yonai was born on 2 March 1880, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, the firs ...

, Nobuyuki Abe and Fumimaro Konoe, all of whom supported Japan's aggressive foreign policy and the right-socialist ideals of Kingoro Hashimoto on the creation of a Military Shogunate to manage Imperial affairs directly. In April 1945, Hiranuma was again appointed as President of the Privy Council.

Prosecution and conviction

After the war, he was arrested by the American Occupation Authorities and was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East as a Class A War Criminal. He was given a life sentence, but he was paroled in early 1952, and died shortly afterwards. His grave is at

Tama Cemetery in Tokyo is the largest municipal cemetery in Japan. It is split between the cities of Fuchu and Koganei within the Tokyo Metropolis. First established in April 1923 as , it was redesignated Tama Cemetery in 1935. It is one of the largest green ...

, outside Tokyo.

References

* Bix, Herbert P. ''

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...

''. Harper Perennial (2001). * Brendon, Piers. ''The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s''. Vintage; Reprint edition (2002). * Frank, Richard B. ''Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire''. Penguin (Non-Classics); Reissue edition (2001). * Sherman, Christine. ''War Crimes: International Military Tribunal''. Turner Publishing Company. (2001). * Wolferen, Karel van. ''The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation''. Vintage; Reprint edition (1990).

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiranuma, Kiichiro 1867 births 1952 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Japan People from Okayama Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Japanese prosecutors Kazoku Japanese Shintoists Prime Ministers of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Japanese people of World War II Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Japanese people convicted of war crimes People paroled from life sentence Japanese politicians convicted of crimes Heads of government convicted of war crimes Heads of government who were later imprisoned Politicians from Okayama Prefecture Prosecutors General of Japan