The was established during the development of
representative government in Meiji period Japan to further strengthen the authority of the state. Its first leader was
Yamagata Aritomo
'' Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the '' genrō'', an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated J ...
(1838–1922), a
Chōshū native who has been credited with the founding of the modern
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 Emper ...
and was the first constitutional
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 S ...
. The Supreme War Council developed a
German-style general staff system with a chief of staff who had direct access to the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
and who could operate independently of the army minister and civilian officials. The Supreme War Council was the ''de facto'' inner cabinet of Japan prior 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 T ...
.
Liaison Conference
From November 1937 and following
Emperor Shōwa's order, the ''Gunji sangikan kaigi'' was in effect replaced by the
Imperial General Headquarters-Government Liaison Conference (大本営政府連絡会議 ''Daihon'ei seifu renraku kaigi''). The Liaison Conferences were intended by the Emperor to bring the chiefs of the Army and
Navy General Staff into closer consultation with his government, and to assist in integrating the decisions and needs of the two military sections of Imperial General Headquarters with the resources and policies of the rest of the government. The final decisions of Liaison Conferences were formally disclosed and approved at Imperial Conferences over which the Emperor presided in person at the Kyūden of the
Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Its members were the following officials:
* the
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 is ...
:
Fumimaro Konoe
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 ...
,
Hiranuma Kiichirō
was a prominent right-wing Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan in 1939. He was convicted of war crimes committed during World War II and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early life
Hiranuma was born in what is now Tsuyama ...
,
Nobuyuki Abe
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea, and Prime Minister of Japan.
Early life and military career
Abe was born on November 24, 1875, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the son of former samurai Abe Nobumitsu. H ...
,
Mitsumasa Yonai
* the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
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 co ...
* the
Minister of War
* the
Minister of the Navy Minister of the Navy may refer to:
* Minister of the Navy (France)
* Minister of the Navy (Italy)
* Minister of the Navy (Japan)
* Minister of the Navy (Netherlands)
* Minister of the Navy (Spain)
* Minister of the Navy (Turkey)
* Minister of ...
* the Chief of the Army General Staff
* the Chief of the Navy General Staff
Supreme Council for the Direction of the War
In 1944, Prime Minister
Kuniaki Koiso
was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea and Prime Minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945.
After Japan's defeat in World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early l ...
established the
Supreme Council for the Direction of the War (最高戦争指導会議 ''Saikō sensō shidō kaigi''), which replaced the Imperial General Headquarters-Government Liaison Conference. At the end of the war on August 14, 1945, it consisted of:
*Prime Minister: Admiral
Kantarō Suzuki
*Minister of Foreign Affairs:
Shigenori Tōgō
*Minister of War: General
Korechika Anami
*Minister of the Navy: Admiral
Mitsumasa Yonai
*Chief of the Army General Staff: General
Yoshijirō Umezu
*Chief of the Navy General Staff: Admiral
Soemu Toyoda
See also
*
Gozen Kaigi
In the Empire of Japan, an (literally, a conference before the emperor) was an extraconstitutional conference on foreign matters of grave national importance that was convened by the government in the presence of the Emperor.
History and backgr ...
{{JapanEmpireNavbox
Military history of Japan
Government of Japan
Military of the Empire of Japan