was a career officer and

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, who served as a politician and cabinet minister in the government of 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 ...

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 ...

Life and military career

Born to an ex-''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' family of

Sasayama Domain file:Tadayuki Aoyama.jpg, 250px, Aoyama Tadayuki, final ''daimyō'' of Sasayama was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tanba Province in what is now the west-central portion of modern-day ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

, Andō graduated from the eleventh class of 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 ...

in 1899. In 1901, as a second lieutenant in the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

, he served in the 10th Brigade of the Taiwan Garrison. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1904, and served as a company commander in the IJA 10th Infantry Regiment, and was subsequently promoted to captain, and to major in 1913. In 1918, Andō was sent as a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

to the United States, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel while on assignment. On his return, he served in the Personnel Bureau of the Ministry of War from 1921-1922. In 1922, he was promoted to colonel, and assigned command of the IJA 73rd Infantry Regiment, followed by the IJA 2nd Infantry Regiment. From 1923-1927, he returned to the Personnel Bureau at the Ministry of War. After Andō was promoted to major general in 1927, he commanded the IJA 30th Infantry Brigade until 1929, and was attached to the staff of the

IJA 1st Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its ''tsūshōgō'' was the . The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garr ...

from 1929-1932. In 1932, Andō was promoted to

, and became commandant of the Ryōjun Fortress in the

Kwantung Leased Territory The Kwantung Leased Territory () was a Concessions in China, leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945. Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing dynasty, Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Tre ...

from 1932-1934. Although Andō went into the reserves in 1934, and quickly retired, he was recalled to active duty in 1937 with the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

and was assigned command of the 9th Depot Division. He retired again in 1939. In 1940, with the founding of the '' Taisei Yokusankai'' political party, Andō became active in politics and was made vice-chairman of the party. He was also the commander of the party’s paramilitary youth wing, the '' Yokusan Sonendan.'' In 1942, with the establishment of the Tōjō administration, Andō joined the cabinet as a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

. One of his tasks, assigned personally by Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

was to coordinate efforts to suppress news of the Japanese defeat at the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. The following year, he was asked to assume the post of

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

, serving until the fall of the Tōjō administration in 1944. During his tenure as Home Minister, he was successful in curbing the leadership of the ''Yokusan Sonendan'', which had become politicized, and which had become increasing critical of older politicians and bureaucrats and was starting to evolve into a populist political movement independent of the ''Taisei Yokusankai''.Shillony. Page 32–33 He subsequently was appointed to a seat in 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 ...

. After

, in December 1945, Andō was arrested by the American Occupation authorities on Class A

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

charges along with all other members of the wartime Japanese government. He was held in

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 ...

until December 1948, but was never brought to trial before 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 ...

. He died soon afterwards on 10 May 1954.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ando, Kisaburo 1874 births 1954 deaths Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Hyōgo Prefecture Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Government ministers of Japan Ministers of home affairs of Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians Politicians from Hyōgo Prefecture