Ministry of Greater East Asia
The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1942 to 1945, established to replace the Ministry of Colonial Affairs. Its purpose was to administer overseas territories obtained by Japan in the Pacific War and to coordinate the establishment and development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
History and development
The Ministry of Greater East Asia was established on 1 November 1942 under the administration of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō, by absorbing the earlier Script error: No such module "Nihongo". and merging it with the East Asia Department and South Pacific Department of the Foreign Ministry and the Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., which looked after affairs in Japanese-occupied China.
Theoretically, the ministry had political and administrative responsibilities in a vast Script error: No such module "convert". area under Japanese influence (extending south Script error: No such module "convert". from the Aleutians to the Solomon Islands, and west Script error: No such module "convert". from Wake Island to Burma and the Andamans), with perhaps a population of over 300 million inhabitants. In reality, wartime conditions meant that the ministry was little more than a paper creation. Aside from the first Minister of Greater East Asia, Kazuo Aoki, all succeeding ministers simultaneously held the portfolio of the Foreign Minister.
The Ministry of Greater East Asia was abolished on 26 August 1945 by order of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers after the surrender of Japan brought an end to Japan's overseas holdings.
List of ministers of Greater East Asia
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Kazuo Aoki.jpg | Kazuo Aoki 青木 一男 |
1 November 1942 |
22 July 1944 |
Tōjō |
| 2 | File:Shigemitsu Mamoru.jpg | Mamoru Shigemitsu 重光 葵 |
22 July 1944 |
7 April 1945 |
Koiso |
| 3 | File:Kantaro Suzuki suit.jpg | Kantarō Suzuki 鈴木 貫太郎 |
7 April 1945 |
9 April 1945 |
Suzuki |
| 4 | File:Shigenori Togo.jpg | Shigenori Tōgō 東郷茂徳 |
9 April 1945 |
17 August 1945 | |
| 5 | File:Shigemitsu Mamoru.jpg | Mamoru Shigemitsu 重光 葵 |
17 August 1945 |
25 August 1945 |
Higashikuni |
See also
- Greater East Asia Conference
- Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
- Japanese colonial empire
- List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan
References
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External links
- WW2DB: Greater East Asia Conference
- "Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East". Adam Matthew Publications. Accessed 2 March 2005.