Hideki Tojo

Hideki Tojo (東條 英機 Tōjō Hideki) (December 30, 1884–December 23, 1948) was a Japanese general and the 27th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 18, 1941 to July 22, 1944.

Tojo was born in Tokyo in 1884. He was a member of the military clique that pushed Japan into war in the late 1930s. As War Minister in 1940 he was instrumental in leading Japan into the Axis Alliance with Germany and Italy. By 1941 he was appointed prime minister by Emperor Hirohito and took command of the entire Japanese military. Though Hirohito remained nominally in charge, the dominance of the Japanese military at the time ensured that Tojo was the nation's effective dictator.

During World War II he led Japanese forces in the Pacific War, but was forced to resign on July 18, 1944 following a series of military disasters. He left government and went into seclusion.

After the war, he shot himself in the chest as a suicide attempt. He survived and was arrested a short time later. He recovered from his injuries at a hospital.

Tojo in custody

He then was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes. He was found guilty of count 1 (waging wars of aggression, and war or wars in violation of international law), count 27 (waging unprovoked war against China), count 29 (waging aggressive war against the United States), count 31 (waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth), count 32 (waging aggressive war against the Netherlands), count 33 (waging aggressive war against France (Indochina)), and count 54 (ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) and others). He was sentenced to death on November 12, 1948 and executed by hanging.

Because of the crimes committed under his authority, Tojo is considered responsible for the murder of almost four million Chinese. Tōjō approved government-sanctioned biological experiments on POWs.

Hideki Tojo's nickname was "the razor".