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Sadao Araki | |
|---|---|
荒木 貞夫 | |
 | |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 26 May 1938 – 30 August 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Kōichi Kido |
| Succeeded by | Kakichi Kawarada |
| Minister of the Army | |
| In office 13 December 1931 – 23 January 1934 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Jirō Minami |
| Succeeded by | Senjūrō Hayashi |
| Member of theSupreme War Council | |
| In office 23 January 1934 – 6 March 1936 | |
| Monarch | Hirohito |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1877-05-26)26 May 1877 |
| Died | 2 November 1966(1966-11-02) (aged 89) |
| Resting place | Tama Cemetery |
| Awards |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Branch/service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1898–1936 |
| Rank |  General |
| Commands | 6th Division |
| Battles/wars | |
Baron Sadao Araki (荒木 貞夫,Araki Sadao; May 26, 1877 – November 2, 1966) was ageneral in theImperial Japanese Army before and duringWorld War II. As one of the principal nationalistright-wing political theorists in theEmpire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of theradical faction within the politicized Imperial Japanese Army and served asMinister of War underPrime MinisterInukai. He later served asMinister of Education during theKonoe andHiranuma administrations.
AfterWorld War II, he was convicted ofwar crimes and given alife sentence but was released in 1955.
Araki was born inKomae, Tokyo; his father was an ex-samurai retainer of theHitotsubashi branch of theTokugawa family. Araki graduated from theImperial Japanese Army Academy in November 1897 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June of the following year.
Promoted to lieutenant in November 1900 and promoted to captain in June 1904, Araki served as company commander of the1st Imperial Regiment during theRusso-Japanese War.
After the war, Araki returned to graduate from theArmy Staff College at the head of his class. He served on theImperial Japanese Army General Staff in April 1908 and served as a language officer stationed in Russia from November 1909 to May 1913, when he was mademilitary attaché toSaint Petersburg duringWorld War I. He was promoted to major in November 1909 and to lieutenant colonel in August 1915. He was then assigned to theKwantung Army.
Promoted to colonel on July 24, 1918, Araki served as a Staff Officer at Expeditionary Army Headquarters inVladivostok in 1918 and 1919 during the JapaneseSiberian Intervention against theBolshevikRed Army, and was commander of the 23rd Infantry Regiment. During his time inSiberia, Araki carried out secret missions in theRussian Far East and inLake Baikal.
Promoted tomajor general on March 17, 1923, Araki was made commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade. He served asProvost Marshal General from January 1924 to May 1925, wheby he rejoined the Army General Staff as a Bureau Chief. Araki was promoted tolieutenant general in July 1927 and became Commandant of the Army War College in August 1928.
Araki served as commander of theIJA 6th Division from 1929 through 1931, when he was appointed DeputyInspector General of Military Training, one of the most prestigious posts within the army. He was promoted to the rank of full general in October 1933.[1]
On 31 December 1931, Araki was appointedMinister of Warin the cabinet ofPrime MinisterTsuyoshi Inukai. However, in 1932, theMay 15 Incident caused Inukai to be assassinated by ultranationalist navy officers for resisting the Army's war demands. Araki praised the assassins and called them "irrepressible patriots."[2] He also supported GeneralShirō Ishii and hisbiological warfare research project,Unit 731.[citation needed]
Prince Saionji, one of the emperor's closest and strongest advisors, attempted to stop the military takeover of the government. In a compromise, a naval officer, AdmiralMakoto Saitō, became prime minister on 26 May. Araki remained as War Minister and made further demands on the new government. Later that month, Japan unveiled its new foreign policy, theAmau doctrine. The new policy became a blueprint forJapanese expansionism inAsia.
In September 1932, Araki started to become more outspoken in promotingtotalitarianism,militarism, andexpansionism. In a September 23 news conference, Araki first mentioned the philosophy ofKodoha ("The Imperial Way"), which linked the Emperor, the people, land, and morality as one indivisible entity, and he emphasizedState Shinto. Araki also strongly promotedSeishin Kyoiku (spiritual training) for the army.
Araki became a member of theSupreme War Council but on 23 January 1934 resigned as War Minister because of ill health. He was ennobled with the title ofbaron (danshaku) in 1935 under thekazoku peerage system. In 1936,Kodoha-affiliated officers launched another rebellion in theFebruary 26 Incident. The rebellion failed. However, unlike with previous rebellions, there were serious consequences. Nineteen of the rebel leaders were executed, and another 40 were imprisoned.Kodoha generals were purged from the Army, including Araki, who was forced to retire in March.
Fumimaro Konoe became prime minister in 1937. In 1938, Konoe appointed Araki asEducation Minister, to offset the influence of theToseiha ("Control Faction"). That placed him in an ideal position to promote militarism ideals through thenational education system and in the general populace. Araki proposed the incorporation of thesamurai code in the national education system. He promoted the use of the official academic textKokutai no Hongi ("Japan's Fundamentals of National Policy"), and the "moral national bible"Shinmin no Michi ("The Path of Subjects"), an effectivecatechism on national, religious, cultural, social, and ideological topics. Araki continued to serve as Education Minister when Konoe was succeeded as prime minister byHiranuma Kiichirō. He then continued to serve as an advisor to the government as a State Councillor.
In 1924, Araki founded theKokuhonsha (Society for the Foundation of the State), asecret society containing some of the most powerful generals, admirals, and civilians dedicated to hisstatist philosophy that mixedtotalitarianism,militarism,expansionism, andloyalty to theemperor. Araki was also theoretician of the even more radicalSakurakai (Cherry Blossom Society), which actively attempted to bring about aShowa Restoration bycoups d'état.
As a colonel, Araki was the principal proponent of theKodoha political faction (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group) within the Japanese Army, together withJinzaburo Mazaki,Heisuke Yanagawa, andHideyoshi Obata. Their opposition was theToseiha (Control Group), led by GeneralKazushige Ugaki. TheKodoha represented theradical andultranationalist elements within the army. TheToseiha attempted to represent the more conservativemoderates. Both groups had a common intellectual origin in theDouble Leaf Society, a 1920s military thinking group supportingsamurai ideals.
The groups were later to merge into theImperial Way Faction (Kodoha) and incorporated a mixture of right-wing andnational socialist ideas, particularly those ofKita Ikki and the pro-fascist philosophies ofNakano Seigo of which Araki was a leading member.
In January 1939, Araki became involved in theNational Spiritual Mobilization Movement and revitalized it by having it sponsor public rallies,radio programs, printedpropaganda, and discussion seminars attonarigumi neighborhood associations.
Within the Army, Araki was a supporter of the Northern Expansion Doctrine (Hokushin-ron), which proposed an attack on theSoviet Far East andSiberia.
An essential first step in theHokushin-ron proposal was for Japan to seize control ofManchuria. Araki was a supporter of the unauthorized studies ofChina and the preparation of war scenarios by radical junior officer cliques within the Army. Through his connections with theSakurakai, Araki intensified efforts to take the government away from civilian control, isolate the Emperor (Shōwa Reformation), unite the manysecret societies, and appoint his close confidantShigeru Honjō as commander of the Kwantung Army.
The Kwantung Army had 12,000 men available for the invasion of Manchuria at the time of theMukden Incident but needed reinforcements. Araki arranged for another protégé,Chōsen Army commanderSenjuro Hayashi, to be briefed to move his forces fromKorea northward into Manchuria without permission from Tokyo in support of the Kwantung Army.
The plot to seize Manchuria proceeded as planned, and when presented by thefait accompli, all that Prime MinisterReijirō Wakatsuki could do was weakly protest and resign with his cabinet. With Araki's encouragement, forces of Japan's Kwantung Army rapidly expanded in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.[3]
AfterWorld War II, Araki was arrested by theAmerican Occupation authorities and brought before theInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East, where he was tried for Class Awar crimes. He was convicted and sentenced tolife imprisonment for conspiracy towage aggressive war but was released fromSugamo Prison in 1955 for health reasons.[4] Like other Japanese peers, he was stripped of his hereditarypeerage in 1947 upon the abolition of theKazoku.
Araki died in 1966, and his grave is atTama Cemetery, inFuchū inTokyo.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Education Minister May 1938 – Aug 1939 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of War 13 Dec. 1931 – 23 Jan. 1934 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Commandant, Army War College Aug 1928 – Aug 1929 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
