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was a
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
in 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 ...
, a minister of state, and member of the House of Peers. A close associate of
Hideki Tojo 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 Assistan ...
, he helped to plan
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
's wartime economy.


Military career

The eldest son of a landowner in Chiba Prefecture, Suzuki had aspired to participate in the forestry development of
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endodemonym "Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manchu ...
based on stories told by his uncle, who was a colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army during the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and ...
. He applied for
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 b ...
's Faculty of Agriculture but passed the examinations for the
Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...
and upon the recommendations of his uncle, began a military career instead. He graduated from the 22nd class in 1910 and from the 29th class of the Army War College in 1917. After his commission, he studied economics for a year and was briefly assigned to the Ministry of Finance. After the
Nikolayevsk incident The was an international conflict in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East between Japan and the Far Eastern Republic during the Japanese intervention. The culmination was the execution of imprisoned Japanese prisoners of war and surviv ...
, he was dispatched from April to October 1920 to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. he served as a
military attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
from November 1920 to February 1922. As he was fluent in both English and Chinese, he was assigned to the China Bureau within the
Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army. Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...
and was sent to
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
from August 1925 to December 1925 and to various locations in China from December 1926 to May 1927. he accompanied General Yamanashi Hanzo on a meeting with the Chinese warlord
Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...
in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
in June 1927. On 1927, Suzuki started to become increasingly involved in internal political factions within the Army. In 1929, he joined the Isseki-kai, a clique that included
Tetsuzan Nagata was a Japanese military officer and general of the Imperial Japanese Army best known as the victim of the Aizawa Incident in August 1935. Nagata was an influential military figure in the Meiji government and the ''de facto'' leader of the '' ...
,
Hideki Tojo 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 Assistan ...
,
Kanji Ishiwara was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He and Itagaki Seishirō were the men primarily responsible for the Mukden Incident that took place in Manchuria in 1931. Early life Ishiwara was born in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Pre ...
and
Seishirō Itagaki was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and War Minister from 1938 to 1939. Itagaki was a main conspirator behind the Mukden Incident and held prestigious chief o ...
. He was sent as a military attache to 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
from February to October 1929. After his return, he was a participant in the 1931 March Incident, an abortive coup d'état intended to make General
Kazushige Ugaki was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and cabinet minister before World War II, the 5th principal of Takushoku University, and twice Governor-General of Korea. Nicknamed Ugaki Issei, he served as Foreign Minister of Japan in the ...
prime minister. He then began to advocate a more aggressive policy in Manchuria and was one of the most vocal advocates 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 ...
. He was promoted to colonel in December 1933. From 1934 to 1935, Suzuki served as an instructor at the Army Staff College and was assigned to the Cabinet Research Bureau from 1935 to 1936. He meanwhile co-authored a pamphlet outlining his theory for a "national defense state" to prepare for
total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combat ...
, based on utopian and Marxist theories on the state control of industries and
agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land re ...
. During the February 26 incident in 1936, Suzuki was initially regarded as a member of the '' Kōdōha'' faction which supported the attempted coup; however, he switched sides to the ''
Tōseiha The ''Tōseiha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Tōseiha'' was a grouping of moderate officers united primarily by their opposition to the radical '' Kōdōha'' (Imperial Way) facti ...
'' as it became apparent that the coup would not succeed. Although that earned him a spot close to Hideki Tojo, it also gained him the reputation as an "opportunist," which was resented by many in the Army, including his former classmate
Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquer ...
. Suzuki was assigned command of the IJA 14th Infantry regiment in December 1936. Although he had been a bureaucrat and administrator, his entire career with little experience as a field commander and no combat experience caused the command of a field unit to be necessary for his further promotion. He became a major general in November 1937 and was assigned nominally to the staff of the IJA 16th Division from November 1937 to April 1938, but he remained in Tokyo with the Cabinet Research Bureau. From April 1936, he was nominal Chief-of-Staff of the IJA 3rd Army, which was then was a
garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
force in
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanes ...
, far from the combat zones in 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 The ...
. Suzuki returned to Tokyo in December as Head of the Political Affairs Bureau of the
East Asia Development Board The East Asia Development Board, or , was a cabinet level agency in the Empire of Japan that operated between 1938 and 1942. It was created on 18 November 1938 under the first Konoe administration to coordinate the government's China policy. It wa ...
. He was promoted to
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
in August 1940 but retired from military service in April 1941 and entered the reserves.


Wartime political career

Although retired from the military, Suzuki continued to serve as a Minister of State as Chair of the Cabinet Planning Board under the second and third
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 ...
administrations. In the October 1941 ''
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 ...
'' immediately prior to the start of then
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 ...
, Suzuki asserted that the outcome of a war would depend a quantitative analysis of Japan's economic and military power and that the American economic embargo caused Japan to have a supply less that three years of oil and other critical resources. Unless new resources could be secured, the Japanese industry would collapse, and the military would lose its capability of taking action, which would result in the loss of the Empire. Continuing to serve in the Hideki Tojo administration, he strongly pushed for the creation of the
Ministry of Greater East Asia The was a cabinet-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 and to coordinate the establishment and development of the Greater Ea ...
, of which he expected to become the cabinet minister. However, Tojo selected the career bureaucrat
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 ...
instead, and Suzuki resigned as Minister of State and became a member of the
Upper House An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
of the
Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
in October 1943.


Postwar

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 ...
, Suzuki was arrested by the American occupation authorities and was charged with Class A war crimes in December 1945 for his advocation of war at the October 1941 ''Gozen Kaigi''. Found guilty at the
International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conv ...
for "planning to wage a war of aggression", he was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
in 1948. He was released from
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 ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was originally built in 1 ...
in September 1955 after the end of the American occupation and was pardoned by the Japanese government in 1958. He was requested to serve as an advisor by several industrialists, and was asked by Kishi Nobusuke to run for the post-war Diet of Japan, but Suzuki refused all offers to return to public life. However, he continued to be consulted on a private basis by conservative politicians, including
Eisaku Sato Eisaku (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan *, Japanese politician *, Japanese shogi player *, Japanese painter *, ...
. Suzuki died at his home in
Shibayama, Chiba is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,122 in 3030 households and a population density of 160 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Shibayama is located in northeastern Ch ...
of heart failure on July 15, 1989 at 100 years old. He was the last surviving defendant of the main Tokyo/Nuremberg trials, outliving
Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...
, who had committed suicide two years earlier.


Decorations

* 1920 –
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...
, 5th class * 1928 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th class * 1934 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class * 1934 –
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...
, 3rd class * 1940 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class 『官報』第4086号「叙任及辞令」October 19, 1940


References

* * *


External links


Papers that pushed for Pacific War revisited; Fabricated logistics data supplied by Cabinet member helped military railroad government
- ''Japan Times'' (Accessed 14 August 2013)


Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Teiichi 1888 births 1989 deaths Military personnel from Chiba Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Japanese military attachés Japanese generals World War II political leaders Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression Japanese centenarians Men centenarians Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class