Hideki Tojo (30 December 1884 – 23 December 1948) was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as Prime…
Hideki Tojo (30 December 1884 – 23 December 1948) was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944 during World War II. His leadership was marked by widespread state violence and mass killings perpetrated in the name of Japanese nationalism. Born into a military family of samurai descent in Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Tojo followed in his father's footsteps by pursuing a military career, graduating from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1905. After serving as a military attaché in Germany, he rose to prominence in the 1930s as a member of the Tōseiha (lit. 'Control Faction') within the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). In 1937, as chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, he led operations during the Japanese invasion of China. By 1940, he was appointed Minister of the Army, where he advocated a tripartite alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In October 1941, he was appointed Prime Minister of Japan by Emperor Hirohito. Upon taking office as Prime Minister, Tojo prioritized the total mobilization of the Empire of Japan for "total war". He enforced strict censorship and utilized the Kempeitai (military police) to suppress dissent while promoting an ideology of absolute loyalty to the Emperor. His foreign policy was defined by the pursuit of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a concept used to justify aggressive expansion into Southeast Asia and the Pacific in order to secure natural resources. On 7 December 1941, Tojo's cabinet oversaw the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which resulted in his country's entry into World War II on the side of the Axis powers. Despite achieving significant territorial gains in Asia and the Pacific during the opening months of the conflict, the tide decisively turned against Japan following its defeat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. In the capacity of his nation's head of government throughout most of the war, Tojo presided over numerous war crimes, including the massacre and starvation of thousands of POWs and millions of civilians. As Allied forces closed in on the Japanese home islands, Tojo's hold on power steadily declined before he was ultimately forced to resign on 18 July 1944 upon the fall of Saipan. After his nation's surrender to the Allied powers in September 1945, he was arrested, convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in the Tokyo Trials, sentenced to death, and hanged on 23 December 1948. To this day, Tojo's complicity in the July 1937 invasion of China, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and numerous acts of mass murder have firmly intertwined his legacy with the Empire of Japan's warmongering brutality during the early Shōwa era.
Famous People Born in 1884
1884: 59 people
Yoriyasu Arima (有馬 頼寧, Arima Yoriyasu; 17 December 1884 – 9 January 1957) was a Japanese politician before and during…
Yoriyasu Arima (有馬 頼寧, Arima Yoriyasu; 17 December 1884 – 9 January 1957) was a Japanese politician before and during World War II. His wife was the daughter of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa.
Seibo Kitamura (北村 西望, Kitamura Seibō; 16 December 1884 – 4 March 1987) was a Japanese sculptor. He is known as the…
Seibo Kitamura (北村 西望, Kitamura Seibō; 16 December 1884 – 4 March 1987) was a Japanese sculptor. He is known as the sculptor of the 10-meter-tall Peace Statue in Nagasaki Peace Park. He is most often referred to as "Seibo".
Kiyoaki Saibara (1884–1972) and his father Seito Saibara are credited with much of the success of the Texas Gulf Coast…
Kiyoaki Saibara (1884–1972) and his father Seito Saibara are credited with much of the success of the Texas Gulf Coast rice crop. Born in Japan, Saibara came to Webster, Texas on his father's orders to help begin a rice crop. Saibara was the first Japanese person to gain United States citizenship in Texas. He and his first wife Shimoyo had six children. A historical marker was erected in Webster in honour of Seito and Kiyoaki.
Isei Otsuka (大塚 惟精, Ōtsuka Isei, 11 December 1884 – 6 August 1945) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of…
Isei Otsuka (大塚 惟精, Ōtsuka Isei, 11 December 1884 – 6 August 1945) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from April to June 1945. He was also governor of Tochigi Prefecture (1924–1926), Fukuoka Prefecture (1926–1927) and Ishikawa Prefecture (1927). He was killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Shōji Nishikawa (Japanese: 西川 正治, Nishikawa Shōji, 5 December 1884 – 5 January 1952) was a Japanese physicist and a…
Shōji Nishikawa (Japanese: 西川 正治, Nishikawa Shōji, 5 December 1884 – 5 January 1952) was a Japanese physicist and a founding father of crystallography in Japan.
Koshiba Hiroshi (小柴 博; Tsuwano-chō, Shimane November 9, 1884 – June 19, 1925) was one of the founders of the Japanese…
Koshiba Hiroshi (小柴 博; Tsuwano-chō, Shimane November 9, 1884 – June 19, 1925) was one of the founders of the Japanese Scouting movement. He graduated from Tsuwano Elementary School. He entered Himeji Junior High School, a state school run by Hyogo Prefecture, but dropped out due to family reasons. In 1903, he became a student at Shimane Normal School. In 1905, he received a full Elementary School Teacher's licence, and became a teacher at Tsuwano Elementary School. In 1907, he went to Tokyo, and worked at Akasaka Jinjo High School. Together with his colleagues, Hasunuma Monzō (蓮沼門三) and Iso Kikuma (磯規矩馬), he participated in the Shūyōdan (修養団) movement. In 1909, he started the youth branch of the Shuyodan (修養団幼年会, Shūyōdan Yōnenkai). This group received support from, among others, Kurushima Takehiko (久留島武彦), Kishibe Fukuo (岸辺福雄) and Amano Kijihiko (天野雉彦), and held 61 meetings in six years, before being disbanded. It is reported that meetings consisted of events such as readings of children's stories and inspirational and improving stories, singing, excursions and group training, and were always extremely popular. On October 7, 1913, Hasunuma Monzō and Uryū Kisaburō (瓜生喜三郎) had a discussion about youth education with Japan's ambassador to Russia Motono Ichirō (本野一郎), where Motono explained in detail about the Boy Scout principles and organization in Europe. They were greatly impressed, and told Koshiba how wonderful this organization was. Koshiba immediately set to work on forming a youth education group, founding the Tokyo Shōnengun (東京少年軍) ("Tokyo Youth Army"). This group's first excursion was to the temple known as Mejiro Fudōson (目黒不動尊) to visit the grave of Aoki Kon'yō (青木昆陽), and dig for imo potatoes. In 1920, he participated in the First World Scout Jamboree in England, together with Shimoda Toyomatsu and Richard Suzuki. On April 13, 1921, he reorganized the Shūyōdan Yōnenbu to form the Tokyo Shōnengun ("Tokyo Youth Army"). This was the first youth group based on the British Boy Scout training methods to be founded in Japan. On June 19, 1925, he died in his Tokyo home of heart failure, aged 42.
Shintarō Suzuki (鈴木 信太郎, Suzuki Shintarō; 8 November 1884 – 27 June 1958) was a Japanese politician. He was born in…
Shintarō Suzuki (鈴木 信太郎, Suzuki Shintarō; 8 November 1884 – 27 June 1958) was a Japanese politician. He was born in Yamagata Prefecture. He was the son-in-law of Tokonami Takejirō. He was governor of Nara Prefecture (1923–1926), Gifu Prefecture (1926–1927), Yamanashi Prefecture (1927–1929), Nagano Prefecture (1929–1931), Nagasaki Prefecture (1931–1935) and Kyoto Prefecture (1935–1936). He was a member of the Government-General of Taiwan.
Kanokogi Kazunobu (鹿子木員信, 1884–1949) was a Japanese professor, philosopher, mountaineer and author. Although less well…
Kanokogi Kazunobu (鹿子木員信, 1884–1949) was a Japanese professor, philosopher, mountaineer and author. Although less well known than Ikki Kita, Kanokogi has been referred to on several occasions as "the pioneer of Japanese totalitarianism." After training as a naval engineer, he saw combat in the Russo-Japanese War; after converting to Christianity he resigned his commission and travelled to the United States to study theology at Union Theological Seminary and philosophy at Columbia University. He received his doctorate (supervised by Rudolf Eucken) while studying in Germany at the University of Jena. After returning to Japan in 1912 he taught at Keio University, Tokyo Imperial University and Kyushu Imperial University. Kanokogi became involved in the Pan-Asianism movement, which led to him travelling to India. He was arrested by the British in Calcutta, and deported to Singapore, where he was imprisoned briefly. Following this incident, he began advocating for Indian independence. Kanokogi was a nationalist who emphasised the importance of the Imperial family in Japanese history. One of his principal works was Der Geist Japans ("The Spirit of Japan"), which was derived from a collection of lectures he gave in Germany arguing against Chinese influences on Japanese history. He was a member of the Yūzonsha society. After the war, he was held at Sugamo Prison as a Class-A war criminal. He was released in 1946 on medical grounds because he was diagnosed with terminal pulmonary tuberculosis, and died three years later from this condition.
Sakuhei Fujiwhara (藤原 咲平, Fujiwara Sakuhei; October 29, 1884 – September 22, 1950) was a Japanese meteorologist who…
Sakuhei Fujiwhara (藤原 咲平, Fujiwara Sakuhei; October 29, 1884 – September 22, 1950) was a Japanese meteorologist who became the namesake for the Fujiwhara effect. Novelist Jirō Nitta is his nephew and mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara is his grandnephew.
Admiral Shirō Takasu (高須 四郎, Takasu Shirō; October 27, 1884 – September 2, 1944) was a career naval officer in the…
Admiral Shirō Takasu (高須 四郎, Takasu Shirō; October 27, 1884 – September 2, 1944) was a career naval officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Motonori Matsuyama (松山 基範, Matsuyama Motonori; October 25, 1884 – January 27, 1958) was a Japanese geophysicist who was…
Motonori Matsuyama (松山 基範, Matsuyama Motonori; October 25, 1884 – January 27, 1958) was a Japanese geophysicist who was (in the late 1920s) the first to provide systematic evidence that the Earth's magnetic field had been reversed in the early Pleistocene and to suggest that long periods existed in the past in which the polarity was reversed. He remarked that the Earth's field had later changed to the present polarity. The era of reversed polarity preceding the current Brunhes Chron of normal polarity is now called the Matuyama Reversed Chron; and the transition between them is called the Brunhes–Matuyama or Matuyama-Brunhes reversal.
Nobuteru Mori (21 October 1884 – 1 March 1941) was a Japanese businessman and politician who founded Showa Denko, a…
Nobuteru Mori (21 October 1884 – 1 March 1941) was a Japanese businessman and politician who founded Showa Denko, a leading Japanese chemical engineering firm, in the 1930s. He was also a member of the Japanese House of Representatives. Mori was the father of Mutsuko Miki, an activist and former First Lady, and the father-in-law of former Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki.
Masataka Murata (村田 正太, Murata Masataka; October 5, 1884 – December 20, 1974) was a Japanese physician. He invented a…
Masataka Murata (村田 正太, Murata Masataka; October 5, 1884 – December 20, 1974) was a Japanese physician. He invented a Murata's method for the serodiagnosis of syphilis, and studied leprosy. He worked at the Osaka Prefectural Sotojima Sanatorium and was the director between 1926 and 1933. He treated leprosy patients as respectable persons. After the Sotojima Incident, in which communists were against religious societies, he resigned as the director of the sanatorium. Later, he personally studied leprosy at his house, and died in 1974.
Tsuji Jun (辻 潤, Tsuji Jun; October 4, 1884 – November 24, 1944) was a Japanese author: a poet, essayist, playwright…
Tsuji Jun (辻 潤, Tsuji Jun; October 4, 1884 – November 24, 1944) was a Japanese author: a poet, essayist, playwright, and translator. He has also been described as a Dadaist, nihilist, Epicurean, shakuhachi musician, actor and bohemian. He translated Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own and Cesare Lombroso's The Man of Genius into Japanese. Born in Tōkyō, Tsuji sought escape in literature from a childhood he described as "nothing but destitution, hardship, and a series of traumatizing difficulties". He became interested in the works of Tolstoy, Kōtoku Shūsui's socialist anarchism, and the literature of Oscar Wilde and Voltaire, among many others. Later, in 1920 Tsuji was introduced to Dada and became a self-proclaimed first Dadaist of Japan, a title also claimed by Tsuji's contemporary, Shinkichi Takahashi. Tsuji became a fervent proponent of Stirnerite egoist anarchism, which would become a point of contention between himself and Takahashi. He wrote one of the prologues for famed feminist poet Hayashi Fumiko's 1929 (I Saw a Pale Horse (蒼馬を見たり, Ao Uma wo Mitari) and was active in the radical artistic circles of his time.
Korokurō Shimomura (Japanese: 下村虎六郎, 3 October 1884 – 20 April 1955), better known by his pen name Kojin Shimomura…
Korokurō Shimomura (Japanese: 下村虎六郎, 3 October 1884 – 20 April 1955), better known by his pen name Kojin Shimomura (下村湖人), was a Japanese educator, novelist, essayist, and social thinker. He served as principal of Taichū First Middle School (now Taichung First Senior High School) in Japanese Taiwan and later principal of Taihoku Higher School. He was known for his educational philosophy, liberal humanism, and criticism of Japanese militarism during the early Shōwa period.
Tanzan Ishibashi (石橋 湛山, Ishibashi Tanzan; 25 September 1884 – 25 April 1973) was a Japanese journalist and politician…
Tanzan Ishibashi (石橋 湛山, Ishibashi Tanzan; 25 September 1884 – 25 April 1973) was a Japanese journalist and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1956 to 1957. Born in Tokyo, Ishibashi became a journalist after graduating from Waseda University in 1907. In 1911, he joined the Tōyō Keizai Shimpo ("Eastern Economic Journal") and served as its editor-in-chief from 1925 to 1946 and president from 1941. In the 1930s, Ishibashi was one of the few critics of Japanese imperialism, and became well known as a liberal economist. From 1946 to 1947, Ishibashi served as finance minister under Shigeru Yoshida. He was elected into the National Diet in 1947, but was purged for openly opposing the U.S. occupation policies; he returned to the Diet in 1952, after which he allied with Ichiro Hatoyama and served as his minister of international trade and industry. Ishibashi succeeded Hatoyama as prime minister in 1956, simultaneously serving as director of the Defense Agency, but resigned soon after due to ill health.
Hachirō Arita (有田 八郎, Arita Hachirō; 21 September 1884 – 4 March 1965) was a Japanese politician and diplomat who…
Hachirō Arita (有田 八郎, Arita Hachirō; 21 September 1884 – 4 March 1965) was a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He coined the term Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which provided an official agenda for Imperial Japan's expansionism. After the war, Arita was active as a leftist politician. The circumstances surrounding his second marriage and his unsuccessful 1959 run for Governor of Tokyo served as the model for the novel After the Banquet by Yukio Mishima. This led to a famous court case in which Arita successfully sued for invasion of privacy.
Yumeji Takehisa (Japanese: 竹久 夢二, Hepburn: Takehisa Yumeji; born Mojirō Takehisa (竹久 茂次郎, Takehisa Mojirō), 16…
Yumeji Takehisa (Japanese: 竹久 夢二, Hepburn: Takehisa Yumeji; born Mojirō Takehisa (竹久 茂次郎, Takehisa Mojirō), 16 September 1884 – 1 September 1934) was a Japanese poet and painter. He is known foremost for his Nihonga illustrations of bijin, beautiful women and girls, though he also produced a wide variety of works including book covers, serial newspaper illustrations, furoshiki, postcards, and patterned washi paper.
Setsuzō Sawada (澤田 節蔵, September 9, 1884 - July 4, 1976) was a Japanese diplomat.
Chikahiko Koizumi (小泉 親彦, Koizumi Chikahiko; 9 September 1884 – 13 September 1945) was a Japanese military physician…
Chikahiko Koizumi (小泉 親彦, Koizumi Chikahiko; 9 September 1884 – 13 September 1945) was a Japanese military physician who served as Minister of Health and Welfare from 1941 to 1944.
Zenjirō Horikiri (堀切善次郎, Horikiri Zenjirō; 2 September 1884 – 1 November 1979) was a Japanese official who served as…
Zenjirō Horikiri (堀切善次郎, Horikiri Zenjirō; 2 September 1884 – 1 November 1979) was a Japanese official who served as Minister for Home Affairs under Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara from 1945 to 1946. His brother, Zenbei Horikiri was also a politician and prominent member of the Rikken Seiyūkai political party.
Chizen Akanuma (Japanese: 赤沼 智善, Hepburn: Akanuma Chikuzen; August 25, 1884 – November 30, 1938) was a Japanese…
Chizen Akanuma (Japanese: 赤沼 智善, Hepburn: Akanuma Chikuzen; August 25, 1884 – November 30, 1938) was a Japanese Buddhist scholar and priest within the Ōtani-ha branch of Shin Buddhism, and a professor of Ōtani University who specialized in pre-sectarian Buddhism.
Bukichi Miki (三木 武吉, Miki Bukichi; 15 August 1884 – 4 July 1956) was a Japanese politician. He was a close friend and…
Bukichi Miki (三木 武吉, Miki Bukichi; 15 August 1884 – 4 July 1956) was a Japanese politician. He was a close friend and ally of Ichiro Hatoyama, and was the key figure in carrying out the "conservative merger" that resulted in the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party. Despite being a powerful conservative politician in the Taishō and Shōwa eras, Miki remarkably never held any cabinet post. He still has a high reputation as the archetype of a behind-the-scenes power broker, and at the zenith of their power there were times when both Kanemaru Shin and Hiromu Nonaka were openly complimented by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone for having "surpassed Bukichi Miki." Miki's nicknames included "the heckling general," "the wily schemer," and "the great tanuki of Japanese politics."
Hajime Matsushita (松下 元, Matsushita Hajime; August 10, 1884 – December 1, 1953) was a Japanese naval officer and…
Hajime Matsushita (松下 元, Matsushita Hajime; August 10, 1884 – December 1, 1953) was a Japanese naval officer and educator.
Jūji Tanabe (Japanese: 田部 重治, Hepburn: Tanabe Jūji); August 4, 1884 – September 22, 1972) was a Japanese literature…
Jūji Tanabe (Japanese: 田部 重治, Hepburn: Tanabe Jūji); August 4, 1884 – September 22, 1972) was a Japanese literature scholar, teacher, and mountain climber. Tanabe was born in Toyama City. He majored in English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, specializing in William Wordsworth. He lectured at Toyo University and Hosei University. He climbed the Japanese Alps and Okuchichibu Mountains. He is the author of the book The Japanese Alps and A Pilgrimage to Chichibu (日本アルプスと秩父巡礼, Nippon Alps to Chichibu Junrei) in 1919, which was republished as Mountains and Ravines (山と渓谷, Yama to Keikoku) in 1930. Tanabe and his friend Kogure Ritarō's (1873–1944) accounts of the Okuchichibu Mountains have become influential. There is a monument to them at the foot of the Mt. Kimpu (金峰山; 2599 m).
Baron Yoshitoshi Tokugawa (徳川 好敏, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi; 24 July 1884 – 17 April 1963) was a lieutenant general in the…
Baron Yoshitoshi Tokugawa (徳川 好敏, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi; 24 July 1884 – 17 April 1963) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army and one of the pioneers of military aviation in Japan. The first Japanese to obtain his pilot's licence from the Aéro-Club de France, he is credited with having made the first flight in a powered aircraft in Japan in 1910.
Azuma Moriya (守屋東, Morira Azuma; 1884 – 1975) was a Japanese temperance activist. She was head of the Loyal Temperance…
Azuma Moriya (守屋東, Morira Azuma; 1884 – 1975) was a Japanese temperance activist. She was head of the Loyal Temperance Legion program in Japan, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) outreach to children.
Ichirō Kiyose (清瀬 一郎, Kiyose Ichirō; July 5, 1884 – June 27, 1967) was a Japanese lawyer and politician who rose to…
Ichirō Kiyose (清瀬 一郎, Kiyose Ichirō; July 5, 1884 – June 27, 1967) was a Japanese lawyer and politician who rose to serve as Minister of Education and later Speaker of the House of Representatives in the National Diet. As a lawyer, he rose to fame in Japan as one of the defense attorneys for the perpetrators of the May 15 Incident in 1932, and then later became famous internationally when he defended former prime minister Hideki Tōjō during the Tokyo War Crimes Trials after World War II. In 1960, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he presided over the ramming through the Diet of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that cemented in place the U.S.-Japan alliance and allows the United States to maintain military bases on Japanese soil.
Sadako Kujō (九条節子, Kujō Sadako; 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951), posthumously honoured as Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei…
Sadako Kujō (九条節子, Kujō Sadako; 25 June 1884 – 17 May 1951), posthumously honoured as Empress Teimei (貞明皇后, Teimei Kōgō), was the wife of Emperor Taishō and the mother of Emperor Shōwa. Her posthumous name, Teimei, means "enlightened constancy". She was also the paternal grandmother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and the paternal great-grandmother of Emperor Naruhito.
Masamitsu Ōshima (大島 正満, Ōshima Masamitsu; June 21, 1884 – June 26, 1965) was a Japanese herpetologist and…
Masamitsu Ōshima (大島 正満, Ōshima Masamitsu; June 21, 1884 – June 26, 1965) was a Japanese herpetologist and ichthyologist. He received his Master's from Stanford University. He is noted for studies of the fish species of Taiwan and on snakes.
Kotaka Otsuma (大妻 コタカ, Ōtsuma Kotaka; June 21, 1884 – January 3, 1970) was born on June 21, 1884, in Kawashiri, Kōzan…
Kotaka Otsuma (大妻 コタカ, Ōtsuma Kotaka; June 21, 1884 – January 3, 1970) was born on June 21, 1884, in Kawashiri, Kōzan Town, Sera County, Hiroshima Prefecture, the third daughter of Shōjūrō Kumada (熊田 小十郎). After studying at Kawashiri Elementary School, Hongo Middle School, and the Kozan Needlecraft School, she found employment at a local elementary school. In 1901 she moved to Tokyo and enrolled in Wayo Women's University, subsequently taking a teaching position in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1907 she married Ryōma Ōtsuma (大妻 良馬), an employee of the Imperial Household Ministry. With his help and support, she founded a needlecraft school in Chiyoda, Tokyo, a stone's throw from the Imperial Palace (Kokyo). This school later developed into the Otsuma Girls' Middle and High Schools and Otsuma Women's University and Junior College. In 1952 she founded the Kozan Art and Craft High School and remained its head until her death. Otsuma died on January 3, 1970. Otsuma is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of women's education in Japan, even though the curricula of her schools emphasized home economics and traditional social values. Her connections to the Imperial Palace and her active support of the militaristic government led to her being investigated after the Pacific War, but no action was taken. Conversely, her contributions to Japanese education were recognized by the following Imperial Awards: 1954 Medal with Blue Ribbon (藍綬褒章, ranjuhōshō) 1964 Order of the Precious Crown, Butterfly (宝冠白蝶章, hōkanshirochōshō) 1970 Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star (瑞宝重光章, zuihōjūkōshō) In 2002 she was posthumously made an Honorary Citizen of Kozan Town.
Ogiwara Seisensui (荻原 井泉水; 16 June 1884 – 11 May 1976) was the pen-name of Ogiwara Tōkichi (荻原 藤吉), a Japanese haiku…
Ogiwara Seisensui (荻原 井泉水; 16 June 1884 – 11 May 1976) was the pen-name of Ogiwara Tōkichi (荻原 藤吉), a Japanese haiku poet active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan.
Yaeko Batchelor (バチェラー八重子; June 13, 1884 – April 29, 1962) was an Ainu waka poet and evangelist.
Kendo (Japanese: 剣道, Hepburn: Kendō; lit. 'sword way' or 'sword path' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese…
Kendo (Japanese: 剣道, Hepburn: Kendō; lit. 'sword way' or 'sword path' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exercises, and today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread to many other nations across the world.
Yasuji Okamura (岡村 寧次, Okamura Yasuji; 15 May 1884 – 2 September 1966) was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army…
Yasuji Okamura (岡村 寧次, Okamura Yasuji; 15 May 1884 – 2 September 1966) was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army from November 1944 to the end of World War II, and appointed to surrender all Japanese forces involved in the China Burma India theater. He was tried but found not guilty of any war crimes by the Shanghai War Crimes Tribunal after the war. As one of the Imperial Japanese Army's top China experts, General Okamura spent his entire military career on the Asian mainland.
Toshiko Tamura (田村 俊子, Tamura Toshiko; 25 April 1884 – 16 April 1945) was an early modern feminist novelist who wrote…
Toshiko Tamura (田村 俊子, Tamura Toshiko; 25 April 1884 – 16 April 1945) was an early modern feminist novelist who wrote during the late Meiji era, Taishō era, and early Shōwa era. She wrote under the pen-names Roei (露英), Child Bird (鳥の子, Tori no ko), Toshiko Suzuki (鈴木 俊子, Suzuki Toshiko), Yukari (優香里, Yukari), Jun-Sheng (俊生), and Zuo Jun-zhi (佐俊芝), as well as under her maiden name Toshiko Satō (佐藤 俊子, Satō Toshiko) and her married name Toshiko Tamura, by which she is best known. Her birth name was Toshi Satō (佐藤 とし, Satō Toshi).
Shinji Sogō (十河 信二, Sogō Shinji; 14 April 1884 – 3 October 1981) was the fourth president of the Japanese National…
Shinji Sogō (十河 信二, Sogō Shinji; 14 April 1884 – 3 October 1981) was the fourth president of the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and is credited with the creation of the first "bullet train", the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. Born in Niihama, Ehime, Shikoku, in 1884, Shinji Sogo graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1909, and joined the Railway Agency. While working for the Teito Reconstruction Agency after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, he was strongly influenced by Shinpei Gotō, the Agency president. After leaving the government railways in 1926, he became a director of the South Manchuria Railway. While at the South Manchuria Railway, he became closely connected with Kwantung Army officer Ishiwara Kanji, the key force behind the Manchurian Incident. Sogō acted as part of Ishiwara's "brain-trust" when Ishiwara was at the height of his power in 1936–1937. Sogō was part of Ishiwara's efforts to deny General Kazushige Ugaki the position of Prime Minister in January 1937, and install General Senjūrō Hayashi as Prime Minister. He helped Hayashi form his cabinet. Later that year his patron Ishiwara was forced out of power, and Sogō also lost his influence. After World War II, he served as Chairman of the Railway Welfare Association until he was appointed JNR president in 1955.
Isoroku Yamamoto (山本 五十六, Yamamoto Isoroku; April 4, 1884 – April 18, 1943) was an admiral of the Imperial Japanese…
Isoroku Yamamoto (山本 五十六, Yamamoto Isoroku; April 4, 1884 – April 18, 1943) was an admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander of the Combined Fleet during World War II. He commanded the fleet from 1939 until his death in 1943, overseeing the start of the Pacific War in 1941 and Japan's initial successes and defeats before his plane was shot down by U.S. fighter aircraft over New Guinea. Yamamoto graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy in 1904 and served in the Russo-Japanese War, where he lost two fingers at the Battle of Tsushima. He later studied at Harvard University in the United States and was appointed naval attaché to the Japanese embassy in Washington. His experiences convinced him that naval power depended on access to oil and industrial capacity, and that Japan thus had little hope to defeat the U.S. in a war. He was one of the first naval leaders to conclude that naval aviation and aircraft carriers would play a decisive role in any future conflict. In 1936, Yamamoto was appointed navy vice minister, and opposed Japan's alliance with Germany and Italy in the Tripartite Pact of 1940. In 1939, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and was tasked with creating a strategy for war with the United States; Yamamoto favored a surprise attack, which was carried out at the start of the war with an attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In the early months of the war, the Japanese fleet scored a series of decisive naval victories. These gains were halted at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, in which four Japanese carriers were sunk. Yamamoto committed to the defense of the Solomon Islands in the Guadalcanal campaign, but was unable to prevent their capture. In April 1943, Yamamoto was killed after American code breakers intercepted his flight plans, enabling the United States Army Air Forces to shoot down his aircraft.
Chika Kuroda (黒田チカ; 24 March 1884 – 8 November 1968) was a Japanese chemist whose research focused on natural pigments.…
Chika Kuroda (黒田チカ; 24 March 1884 – 8 November 1968) was a Japanese chemist whose research focused on natural pigments. She was the first woman in Japan to receive a Bachelor of Science.
Prince Iemasa Tokugawa (徳川 家正, Tokugawa Iemasa; 23 March 1884 – 18 February 1963) also known as Iyemasa, was a Japanese…
Prince Iemasa Tokugawa (徳川 家正, Tokugawa Iemasa; 23 March 1884 – 18 February 1963) also known as Iyemasa, was a Japanese political figure of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was the 17th hereditary head of the former shogunal branch of the Tokugawa clan and the final President of the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan.
Katsuzō Nishi (西 勝造, にし•かつぞー, Nishi Katsuzō) (1884 – 1959) was the Japanese founder of Nishi Shiki in 1927, who was at…
Katsuzō Nishi (西 勝造, にし•かつぞー, Nishi Katsuzō) (1884 – 1959) was the Japanese founder of Nishi Shiki in 1927, who was at that time the chief technical engineer for Japan's first subway project, the Tokyo subway. He was also an aikido teacher.
Fumio Gotō (後藤 文夫, Gotō Fumio; 7 March 1884 – 13 May 1980) was a Japanese politician and bureaucrat, and briefly served…
Fumio Gotō (後藤 文夫, Gotō Fumio; 7 March 1884 – 13 May 1980) was a Japanese politician and bureaucrat, and briefly served as interim Prime Minister of Japan in 1936.
Rizaburo Toyoda (豊田 利三郎, Toyoda Rizaburō; 5 March 1884 – 3 June 1952) was a Japanese entrepreneur. He was the…
Rizaburo Toyoda (豊田 利三郎, Toyoda Rizaburō; 5 March 1884 – 3 June 1952) was a Japanese entrepreneur. He was the son-in-law of Toyota Industries Co., Ltd founder Sakichi Toyoda, and brother-in-law of Toyota Motor Corporation founder, Kiichiro Toyoda (豊田 喜一郎, Toyoda Kiichirō; June 11, 1894 – March 27, 1952). His original surname was Kodama (児玉). He graduated from Kobe University (then Kobe Koto Shogyo Gakko) and Hitotsubashi University (then Tokyo Koto Shogyo Gakko). In 1939, he became the first president of the Toyota Motor Corporation. He died at the age of 68 in 1952.
Ryo Chiba (2 March 1884 – 8 November 1963) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture…
Ryo Chiba (2 March 1884 – 8 November 1963) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from December 1931 to June 1932. He was governor of Nagano Prefecture (1927–1929) and Niigata Prefecture (1932–1935)
Kiyotaka Hisauti (久内 清孝, Hisauchi Kiyotaka; 1884–1981) was a Japanese botanist noted for identifying at least 19…
Kiyotaka Hisauti (久内 清孝, Hisauchi Kiyotaka; 1884–1981) was a Japanese botanist noted for identifying at least 19 species of flowering plants in Japan. He was a senior member of the editorial board of the Journal of Japanese Botany. The standard author abbreviation Hisauti is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Shintarō Hirase (平瀬 信太郎, Hirase Shintarō; February 28, 1884 – September 9, 1939) was a Japanese malacologist. His…
Shintarō Hirase (平瀬 信太郎, Hirase Shintarō; February 28, 1884 – September 9, 1939) was a Japanese malacologist. His father, Yoichirō Hirase, (1859–1925) was also a malacologist. With his father, he collected shells and helped formalize malacology in Japan. Due to their contributions to malacology, numerous species bear the Hirase name, such as Conus hirasei, . Hirase was born at Hukura on Awaji Island on February 28, 1884, and was the eldest son of Yoichirō Hirase. Growing up surrounded by his father's business and collection, he developed a lifelong love of malacology. He graduated from Third College and afterward took courses on psychology at the Faculty of Literature at Kyoto Imperial University (1910). In 1914 he matriculated to the faculty of Science, Tōkyō Imperial University, having passed an examination for the science courses at the First College. He received his master's degree from Tōkyō Imperial University in 1917 and continued post graduate work from 1917 to 1922. He was elected a member of the Malacological Society of London, of America, and of Germany. He was a founding member of the Malacological Society of Japan, alongside Tokubei Kuroda. He went on to teach natural sciences and zoology at Hōsei University, Meiji University, Seikei University, and Senshū University from 1920 until shortly before his death. In his obituary from the Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, he was noted to be “without political interests and enthusiastically devoted to the study of mollusks.” His publications of note included a review of Japanese oysters, scaphopods, and a catalogue of Japanese shells with hand illustrated plates. Shintaro died on September 9, 1939, at age 55 at his home in Tōkyō after a short period of kidney failure. At its largest, the Hirase collection grew to 15,000 pieces. Prior to WWII, the collection was split to ensure its survival. One third was donated to various museums, including the Smithsonian, one third was kept at the house of Shintaro in Tokyo, and the last third was stored in the Research Institute for Natural Resources in Tokyo. The majority of the collection was destroyed during incendiary bombing of Tokyo during the war. Only 5000 pieces, mostly consisting of the minute marine specimens, the land specimens, and fresh water specimens, survived the war. The surviving pieces of the collection have been stored in the Research Institute for Natural Resources in Tokyo since 1948.
Tamaki Miura (三浦 環, Miura Tamaki; née Shibata (柴田) February 22, 1884 – May 26, 1946), was a Japanese opera singer who…
Tamaki Miura (三浦 環, Miura Tamaki; née Shibata (柴田) February 22, 1884 – May 26, 1946), was a Japanese opera singer who performed as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Noburu Katagami (片上 伸, Katagami Noburu; February 20, 1884 – March 5, 1928) was a Japanese literary critic and a…
Noburu Katagami (片上 伸, Katagami Noburu; February 20, 1884 – March 5, 1928) was a Japanese literary critic and a professor of Russian literature at Waseda University. He is also known as Tengen Katagami (片上天絃; later 片上天弦).
Hideo Hatoyama (2 February 1884 – 29 January 1946) was a Japanese jurist whose writings about civil law were…
Hideo Hatoyama (2 February 1884 – 29 January 1946) was a Japanese jurist whose writings about civil law were influential in pre-World War II Japan. Hatoyama was part of the prominent Hatoyama family. His father Kazuo Hatoyama was speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan during the Meiji era, and his brother Ichirō Hatoyama was an influential politician and minister in the 1930s and 40s. Through him, Hideo Hatoyama was able to exert great influence on Japanese jurisprudence. After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1908 and subsequent graduate studies in France and Germany, he taught law at his alma mater from 1916 to 1926, after which he worked as a lawyer and left his professorship to his student Sakae Wagatsuma. Hatoyama wrote influential treatises and textbooks on legal transactions (1910) and the law of obligations (1916), but his ideas fell out of fashion after Izotaro Suehiro's attacks on German-style jurisprudence of concepts. Fluent in English, Hatoyama was a member of the Anglican Church in Japan and for many years served as the elected warden of St. Barnabas' Church in Ushigome.