The was a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1942 to 1945, established to administer overseas territories obtained by Japan in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

and to coordinate the establishment and development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

History and development

The Ministry of Greater East Asia was established on 1 November 1942 under the administration of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō, by absorbing the earlier and merging it with the East Asia Department and South Pacific Department of the Foreign Ministry and the , which looked after affairs in Japanese-occupied China. Theoretically, the ministry had political and administrative responsibilities in a vast area under Japanese influence (extending south from the Aleutians to the Solomon Islands, and west from Wake Island to Burma and the Andamans), with perhaps a population of over 300 million inhabitants. In reality, wartime conditions meant that the ministry was little more than a paper creation. Aside from the first Minister of Greater East Asia,

Kazuo Aoki was a bureaucrat and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan, serving as Minister of Finance, and Minister of Greater East Asia. Biography Aoki was born to a farming family in Sarashina District, Nagano prefecture (now part of the city of N ...

, all succeeding ministers simultaneously held the portfolio of the

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. The Ministry of Greater East Asia was abolished on 26 August 1945 by order of the

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...

after the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

brought an end to Japan's overseas holdings.

List of Ministers of Greater East Asia

References

* * *

External links

WW2DB: Greater East Asia Conference"Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East".
Adam Matthew Publications. Accessed 2 March 2005. {{Authority control Foreign relations of the Empire of Japan Greater East Asia Japanese military occupations Politics of the Empire of Japan 1942 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan Japanese colonial empire

History and development

List of Ministers of Greater East Asia

See also

References

External links