(2 September 1889 – 16 October 1962) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who was briefly foreign minister of Japan from September 1942 to 21 April 1943 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 opposi ...

Career

Tani was a career diplomat before assuming ministerial roles. More specifically, he was Japanese ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(1918-1923), to

the US 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 ...

(1927–1930) and to Manchukuo (1933–1936). In addition, he was chief of Asian Bureau in the ministry of foreign affairs. He also worked as counsellor to the Japanese embassy in

Hsinking Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

and as ambassador-at-large in China. He served as vice minister of foreign affairs in the cabinet of

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 ...

when appointed under then foreign minister

Kichisaburō Nomura was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and was the List of ambassadors of Japan to the United States, ambassador to the United States at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Early life and career Nomura was born in Wakayama, Wakayama, ...

on 24 September 1939. Then Tani served as information chief and also, foreign minister in the cabinet of

Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assista ...

. He was appointed foreign minister on 17 September 1942. During his tenure, Japan continued to encourage a separate peace between

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 ...

and

the Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. However, his term was short. Since bureaucrats in the ministry of foreign affairs resented Tani, on 21 April 1943, he was replaced by

Mamoru Shigemitsu was a Japanese diplomat and politician in the Empire of Japan, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs three times during and after World War II as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Japan. As civilian plenipotentiary representing the J ...

. After that, he received Shigemitsu's former post of Japanese ambassador in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

to the

Reorganized National Government of China The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

. After World War II, Tani was detained as a suspect of war crimes until December 1948. However, he was not convicted. Then he served again as Japan's ambassador to the United States from March 1956 to April 1957, becoming the third post-war ambassador of Japan to the US.

Personal life

Tani was married and had three children, a daughter and two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tani, Masayuki 1889 births 1962 deaths University of Tokyo alumni People from Kumamoto Prefecture Foreign ministers of Japan Ambassadors of Japan to China Ambassadors of Japan to France Ambassadors of Japan to the United States