was

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

for the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

at both the start and the end of the Axis–Allied conflict during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He also served as Minister of Colonial Affairs in 1941, and assumed the same position, renamed the Minister for Greater East Asia, in 1945.

Early life and education

Tōgō was born in

Hioki District, Kagoshima was a Districts of Japan, district located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. As of July 1, 2005, the district had an estimated population of 7,927 and the population density, density of 109.72 persons per km2. The total area was 72.25 km2. D ...

, in what is now part of the city of

Hioki, Kagoshima file:Hioki City Hall.jpg, 290px, Hioki City Hall file:Myoenji Mairi Samurai Procession in Tokushige Shrine 001-2021.jpg, 290px, Myoenji Mairi Samurai Procession with Tokushige Shrine is a Cities of Japan, city in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the ...

. His family was a descendant of Koreans who settled in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

after the

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

's campaign against Korea (1592–98). His father took up "Tōgō" as the last name in 1886, replacing the original Korean surname "Boku", or "Park". He was a graduate of the Literature Department of

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

in 1904, and subsequently studied the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

Meiji University is a Private university, private research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Originally founded as Meiji Law School () by three lawyers in 1881, it became a university in April 1920. As of May 2023, Meiji has 32,261 undergradu ...

. He entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1912, after applying for a post five times.

Diplomatic career

Tōgō’s first overseas posting was to the Japanese consulate at

Mukden Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is the province's most populous city with a p ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, in 1913. In 1916, he was assigned to the Japanese embassy in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 1919, Tōgō was sent on a diplomatic mission to Weimar Germany, as diplomatic relations between the two countries were reestablished following the Japanese ratification of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. He returned to Japan in 1921 and was assigned to the Bureau of North American affairs. In 1926, Tōgō was appointed as secretary to the Japanese embassy in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and moved to

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. He returned to Japan in 1929, and after a brief stay in Manchuria, was sent back to Germany. He was the head of the Japanese delegation to the largely unsuccessful

World Disarmament Conference The Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, generally known as the Geneva Conference or World Disarmament Conference, was an international conference of states held in Geneva, Switzerland, between February 1932 and November 1934 ...

held in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 1932. Tōgō returned to Japan in 1933 to assume the post of director of the Bureau of North American affairs, but was in a severe automobile accident which left him hospitalized for over a month. In 1937, Tōgō was appointed as Japanese ambassador to Germany, serving in Berlin for a year. After Tōgō was replaced as ambassador to Germany by Hiroshi Ōshima, he was reassigned to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as the ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

1938–1940. During this time, he negotiated a peace settlement following the

Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...

between Japan and the Soviet Union, and successfully concluded the

Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact The , also known as the , was a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed on April 13, 1941, two years after the conclusion of the Soviet-Japanese Border War. The agreement meant that for most of World War II, ...

in April 1941. He was then recalled to Japan by then Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka for reassignment.

Pacific War

Tōgō adamantly opposed war with the

and the other western powers, which he felt was generally unwinnable. Together with Mamoru Shigemitsu he made unsuccessful last-ditch efforts to arrange for direct face-to-face negotiations between

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Fumimaro Konoe was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the United States, which shortly after his t ...

and US President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in an attempt to stave off armed conflict. In October 1941 Tōgō became Foreign Minister in the Tōjō administration. Once the Empire had decided on attacking, Tōgō signed the

declaration of war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national gov ...

, as he disliked pressing the responsibility of the failure of diplomacy on others. Following the 7 December 1941

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

that signalled the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, he worked quickly to conclude an alliance between the Japanese Empire and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

on 23 December 1941 (based on the Treaty between Thailand and Japan (1940)). As part of a more reconciliatory policy towards the western powers, Tōgō announced on 21 January 1942 that the Japanese government would uphold the Geneva Convention, even though it did not sign it. On 1 September 1942, he resigned his post as Foreign Minister due to his opposition to establish a special ministry for occupied territories within the Japanese government (the new ministry, the Ministry of Greater East Asia eventually emerged in November of that same year). Although appointed to the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

, throughout most of the war he lived in retirement. Upon the formation of the government of Admiral Kantarō Suzuki in April 1945, Tōgō was asked to return to his former position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In that position, he was one of the chief proponents for acceptance of the

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, ...

which, he felt, contained the best conditions for peace Japan could hope to receive. Up until the last, Tōgō hoped for favorable terms from the

. At Tōgō's suggestion, Japan made no official response to the Declaration at first, though a censored version was released to the Japanese public, while Tōgō waited to hear from Moscow. However, Allied leaders interpreted this silence as a rejection of the Declaration, and allowed bombing to continue. Tōgō was one of the Cabinet Ministers who advocated Japanese surrender in the summer of 1945. He instructed Ambassador Naotake Satō to tell the USSR that Japan was willing to surrender but not unconditionally. Several days after the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...

, and following Japanese defeats in the August Storm operation, the Japanese government agreed to unconditional surrender. Following the end of World War II, Tōgō retired to his summer home in

Karuizawa, Nagano is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Originally, there was a stage station ( ...

. However, the

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, 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) ...

soon ordered his arrest on war-crime charges, along with all former members of the Imperial Japanese government; he was held at

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima 23 special wards, ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was orig ...

. During the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on 29 April 1946 to Criminal procedure, try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their cri ...

, Haruhiko Nishi agreed to act as his defense attorney. On 4 November 1948 the Tribunal sentenced Tōgō to 20 years' imprisonment.

Personal life

In 1922, despite the strenuous objections of Tōgō's family, he married Carla Victoria Editha Albertina Anna de Lalande (nee Giesecke 1887-1967), the widow of noted German architect George de Lalande (1872-1914) who designed numerous administrative buildings in Japan and its empire, including the Japanese General Government Building in Seoul. Their wedding was held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. His wife had four daughters and one son from her first marriage, Ursula de Lalande, Ottilie de Lalande, Yuki de Lalande, Heidi de Lalande and Guido de Lalande; together they had one daughter named Ise. In 1943 Ise married Fumihiko Honjo, a Japanese diplomat, who out of respect for his wife's family adopted her surname Tōgō. Fumihiko Togo (1915-1985) later served as the Japanese Ambassador to the United States from 1976 to 1980. The couple's son Kazuhiko Tōgō (born 1945) is a Japanese diplomat and scholar on international relations.

Death

Tōgō, who suffered from

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...

, died of

cholecystitis Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder. Symptoms include Right upper quadrant (abdomen), right upper abdominal pain, pain in the right shoulder, nausea, vomiting, and occasionally fever. Often gallbladder attacks (biliary colic) precede ...

in Sugamo Prison on 23 July 1950. A volume of his memoirs entitled ''The Cause of Japan'' was published posthumously; it was edited by his former defense counsel Ben Bruce Blakeney.

References

External links

Annotated bibliography for Shigenori Togo from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
* "Speech to the Diet 17 November 1941", ''New York Times'' 18 November 1941.
Ibiblio
Chronological Collection of Documents Relating to the U.S. Entry into World War II

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Togo Shigenori People from Hioki, Kagoshima Politicians from Kagoshima Prefecture Ministers for foreign affairs of Japan Japanese people of World War II 1882 births 1950 deaths World War II political leaders University of Tokyo alumni Meiji University alumni Kagoshima University alumni Japanese politicians of Korean descent Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression Japanese politicians convicted of crimes Japanese people who died in prison custody People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Ambassadors of Japan to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Japan to Germany Zainichi Korean politicians Burials at Aoyama Cemetery