Shigeru Yoshida
Shigeru Yoshida Junior First Rank | |
---|---|
吉田 茂 | |
Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 15 October 1948 – 10 December 1954 | |
Monarch | Hirohito |
Governor | |
Deputy | Jōji Hayashi Taketora Ogata |
Preceded by | Hitoshi Ashida |
Succeeded by | Ichirō Hatoyama |
In office 22 May 1946 – 24 May 1947 | |
Monarch | Hirohito |
Governor | Douglas MacArthur |
Deputy | Kijūrō Shidehara |
Preceded by | Kijūrō Shidehara |
Succeeded by | Tetsu Katayama |
Member of the House of Representatives for Kochi At-large District | |
In office 26 April 1947 – 23 October 1963 | |
Member of the House of Peers | |
In office 19 December 1945 – 3 May 1947 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan | 22 September 1878
Died | 20 October 1967 Tokyo, Japan | (aged 89)
Political party | Liberal Democratic (1955–1967) |
Other political affiliations | Liberal (1945–1948) Democratic Liberal (1948–1950) Liberal (1950–1955) |
Spouse |
Yukiko Makino
(m. 1909; died 1941) |
Children | 4, including Ken'ichi |
Relatives |
|
Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
Signature | |
Shigeru Yoshida (吉田 茂, Yoshida Shigeru) (22 September 1878 – 20 October 1967) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as
Serving as Ambassador to the United Kingdom prior to WWII, Yoshida was part of Japan's peace faction opposing the escalation of tensions between Japan and the Allied powers. Following the war, Yoshida, alongside Douglas MacArthur, played a pivotal role in Japan's postwar recovery and the transformation of Japan into a democratic constitutional monarchy. He was praised by US President Richard Nixon as one of the greatest world leaders during his lifetime.[2]
Early life and education
Yoshida was born on 22 September 1878, in Kanda-Surugadai, Tokyo, the fifth son of political activist and former samurai Tsuna Takeuchi.[3][4] Tsuna was a devout supporter of Itagaki Taisuke and would later serve in the first National Diet in 1890. Yoshida's biological mother's identity is not known. Shortly before his birth, his biological father was arrested for anti-government conspiracy, and his mother gave birth to him at the house of Kenzō Yoshida, a friend of his father. As young samurai, Tsuna and Kenzō had made a name amidst the decades of unrest around the time of Meiji Restoration.[4] In August 1881, Yoshida was adopted by Kenzō Yoshida and his wife Kotoko. Kenzō was a wealthy trade merchant, former Jardine Matheson Yokohama branch manager and former samurai,[3] and Kotoko was the daughter of an Edo period Confucian scholar.[4]
Yoshida began his education in a rural boarding school. He graduated elementary school in 1889. That same year, Kenzō Yoshida died, and Shigeru inherited a substantial fortune from him. Kotoko subsequently raised Shigeru on the family's estate in
Diplomatic career
Yoshida's diplomatic career began with a posting in
In 1928, he briefly served as minister to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark before being appointed deputy foreign minister that same year, serving until 1930. In 1930, after the army vetoed his appointment as foreign minister, he was appointed ambassador to Italy, and in 1936, he became ambassador to the United Kingdom, serving until 1938. During the 1930s, he supported increasing Japanese influence in China, and advocated for the independence of Manchuria and Mongolia to weaken the Republic of China. After his ambassadorship to the United Kingdom ended in 1938, he retired from the diplomatic service.[5]
During World War II
Although considered a "hawk" on China, Yoshida was firmly against war with the United States and United Kingdom. Despite holding no official positions during World War II, he was active in trying to prevent war with the Allies, and then to try to bring about an early end of the war, allying himself with Prince Fumimaro Konoe.
Right before the Pacific War began, Yoshida joined Konoe in unsuccessfully attempting to deescalate the situation.[5] During the war, Yoshida continued to associate with Konoe in trying to get the government to negotiate a peace with the Allies. In April 1945, he was arrested and briefly imprisoned over his association with Prince Konoe.
Prime ministership
Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Allied occupation of the country began. In November 1945, the new Liberal Party was formed, and Yoshida joined it. The 1946 general election brought the Liberal Party to power. Its leader, Ichirō Hatoyama, became prime minister, but Hatoyama was purged by the Allied occupation authorities soon afterwards, and Yoshida was appointed in his stead, becoming the 45th prime minister of Japan on 22 May 1946. His pro-American and pro-British ideals and his knowledge of Western societies, gained through education and political work abroad, are what made him the perfect candidate in the eyes of the occupation authorities.
After being replaced with Tetsu Katayama on 24 May 1947, he returned to the post as the 48th prime minister on 15 October 1948. In 1951, he signed the Treaty of San Francisco, a peace treaty with the Allies that would serve as a formal peace agreement and bring about the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. During a stopover in Hawaii on the way back from San Francisco, he also paid a visit to Pearl Harbor.[6]
Under Yoshida's leadership, Japan began to rebuild its lost industrial infrastructure and placed a premium on unrestrained economic growth. Many of these concepts still impact Japan's political and economic policies. However, since the 1970s environmental movement, the bursting of Japan's economic bubble, and the end of the Cold War, Japan has been struggling to redefine its national goals.
He was retained in three succeeding elections (49th: 16 February 1949; 50th: 30 October 1952; and 51st: 21 May 1953).
According to CIA files that were declassified in 2005, there was a 1952 plot to assassinate Yoshida and replace him with Ichirō Hatoyama as prime minister. The plot was led by Takushiro Hattori, who served as an Imperial Japanese Army officer, and had the support of 500,000 Japanese.[7]
Dissatisfaction with his leadership led to the defection of many Diet members from his party to the new
Yoshida Doctrine
The
Later years
Yoshida later became president of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums.[9]
He died in 1967. He was baptized on his deathbed, having hidden his Catholicism throughout most of his life. His funeral was held in St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo and buried at Aoyama Cemetery.
His state funeral was held in Nippon Budokan on 31 October 1967 in the presence of the Crown Prince and Princess.
Personal life
In 1909, Yoshida married Makino Yukiko, the eldest daughter of
Honours
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (29 April 1940)[11]
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (29 April 1964)[11]
- Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (20 October 1967; posthumous)[11]
- Junior First Rank (20 October 1967; posthumous)[11]
- Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan (1967)[12]
Selected works
Yoshida's published writings encompass 159 works in 307 publications in 6 languages; His work can be found in the collections of 5,754 libraries worldwide (as of 5 June 2001).[13]
The most widely held works by Yoshida include:
- The Yoshida Memoirs: the Story of Japan in Crisis; 15 editions published between 1957 and 1983 in English and Japanese and held by 875 libraries worldwide.[13]
- Japan's Decisive Century, 1867–1967; 1 edition published in 1967 in English and held by 650 libraries worldwide.[13]
- Yoshida Shigeru: Last Meiji Man; 2 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 286 libraries worldwide.[13]
- 日本を決定した百年; 7 editions published between 1967 and 2006 in 3 languages and held by 46 libraries worldwide.[13]
- 大磯隨想; 5 editions published between 1962 and 1991 in Japanese and held by 34 libraries worldwide.[13]
- 吉田茂書翰; 2 editions published in 1994 in Japanese and held by 31 libraries worldwide.[13]
- 世界と日本; 3 editions published between 1963 and 1992 in Japanese and held by 26 libraries worldwide.[13]
- Japan im Wiederaufstieg; die Yoshida Memoiren (in German); 1 edition published in 1963 in German and held by 9 libraries worldwide.[13]
Notes
- ^ "連続在職日数、安倍首相2位に 第2次内閣から2248日(共同通信) - Yahoo!ニュース". Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
- ISBN 978-0-446-51249-7.
- ^ OCLC 676126154.
- ^ OCLC 1021037693.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link - ^ a b c d "Shigeru Yoshida".
- ^ "Japan ex-PM Yoshida's forgotten Pearl Harbor visit recounted". Associated Press. 26 December 2016.
- ^ "CIA Papers Reveal 1950s Japan Coup Plot". Associated Press. 28 February 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ Yoneyuki Sugita, "The Yoshida Doctrine as a myth." Japanese Journal of American Studies 27 (2016): 123-143 online.
- ^ Miller, Ian Jared, The Nature of the Beasts: Empire and Exhibition at the Tokyo Imperial Zoo, p. 187
- ^ Lockhart, Charles: Protecting the Elderly: How Culture Shapes Social Policy
- ^ a b c d From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia
- ^ 䝪䞊䜲䝇䜹䜴䝖日本連盟 きじ章受章者 [Recipient of the Golden Pheasant Award of the Scout Association of Japan] (PDF). Reinanzaka Scout Club (in Japanese). 2014-05-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i WorldCat Identities: Yoshida, Shigeru 1878–1967
References
- Rodan, Garry, Hewison, Kevin and Robison, Richard. (1997). The Political Economy of South-East Asia: An Introduction. Melbourne:
- McGrew, Anthony and Christopher Book. (1998) Asia-Pacific in the New World Order. London:
- Shigeru Yoshida and Hiroshi Nara. (2007). Shigeru: Last Meiji Man. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-742-53933-4; OCLC 238440967
Further reading
- Dower, John W. Empire and Aftermath: Yoshida Shigeru and the Japanese Experience, 1878–1954.
- Edström, Bert. Yoshida Shigeru and the Foundation of Japan's Postwar Foreign Policy.
- Finn, Richard B. Winners in peace: MacArthur, Yoshida, and Postwar Japan.
- Takashi Hirose (広瀬隆); 『私物国家 日本の黒幕の系図』 Tokyo:Kobunsha (1997) Genealogy14
- Iriye, Akira. "Japan Returns to the World: Yoshida Shigeru and His Legacy." The Diplomats, 1939-1979 (Princeton University Press, 2019) pp. 321–336. online
- Okazaki, Hisahiko (2019). Yoshida Shigeru and His Time. Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. ISBN 9784866580708.
External links
- Media related to Shigeru Yoshida at Wikimedia Commons
- Newspaper clippings about Shigeru Yoshida in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- OSS Biographical Report on Yoshida dated January 1945