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Kantarō Suzuki | |
|---|---|
鈴木 貫太郎 | |
 Suzukic. 1940s | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 7 April 1945 – 17 August 1945 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Preceded by | Kuniaki Koiso |
| Succeeded by | Naruhiko Higashikuni |
| President of the Privy Council | |
| In office 15 December 1945 – 13 June 1946 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Vice President | Shimizu Tōru |
| Preceded by | Hiranuma Kiichirō |
| Succeeded by | Shimizu Tōru |
| In office 10 August 1944 – 7 April 1945 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Vice President | Shimizu Tōru |
| Preceded by | Yoshimichi Hara |
| Succeeded by | Hiranuma Kiichirō |
| President of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association | |
| In office 7 April 1945 – 13 June 1945 | |
| Deputy | Taketora Ogata |
| Preceded by | Kuniaki Koiso |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 7 April 1945 – 9 April 1945 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Mamoru Shigemitsu |
| Succeeded by | Shigenori Tōgō |
| Minister of Greater East Asia | |
| In office 7 April 1945 – 9 April 1945 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Mamoru Shigemitsu |
| Succeeded by | Shigenori Tōgō |
| Vice President of the Privy Council | |
| In office 24 June 1940 – 10 August 1944 | |
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| President | Yoshimichi Hara |
| Preceded by | Yoshimichi Hara |
| Succeeded by | Shimizu Tōru |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1868-01-18)18 January 1868 Kuze,Izumi,Japan |
| Died | 17 April 1948(1948-04-17) (aged 80) Noda, Chiba,Japan |
| Political party | Imperial Rule Assistance Association (1940–1945) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (before 1940; 1945–1948) |
| Spouse | Taka Adachi[1] |
| Children | Hajime Suzuki[2] |
| Relatives | Takao Suzuki [jp] (brother)[3] Suguru Suzuki [jp] (nephew)[3] |
| Alma mater | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy |
| Profession | Admiral, politician |
| Awards | Order of the Golden Kite(3rd class) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Branch/service |  Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Years of service | 1887–1929 |
| Rank |  Admiral |
| Commands | Akashi,Soya,Shikishima,Tsukuba Maizuru Naval District,IJN 2nd Fleet,IJN 3rd Fleet,Kure Naval District,Combined Fleet |
| Battles/wars | |
BaronKantarō Suzuki (鈴木 貫太郎, 18 January 1868 – 17 April 1948[4]) was a Japanese politician and admiral who served asprime minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945, duringWorld War II. He was prime minister at the time ofJapan's surrender on 15 August.
Born inOsaka, Suzuki graduated from the Naval Academy and Staff College and served in theFirst Sino-Japanese andRusso-Japanese Wars. He was promoted to full admiral in 1923 and served as chief of the naval general staff from 1925 to 1929. In 1945, Suzuki was appointed prime minister shortly after the start of theBattle of Okinawa and the resignation of prime ministerKuniaki Koiso. After thePotsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July, which called for Japan's unconditional surrender, Suzuki dismissed it with the wordmokusatsu. On 14 August, Suzuki attended the conference at which emperorHirohito made the decision to surrender over his divided cabinet. Japan surrendered the next day, and Suzuki resigned on 17 August.
Suzuki was born on 18 January 1868, inIzumi Province (present-daySakai, Osaka), the first son of local governor (daikan) ofSekiyado Domain Suzuki Yoshinori. He grew up in the city of Sekiyado,Shimōsa Province (present-dayNoda,Chiba Prefecture).[5]
Suzuki entered the 14th class of theImperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1884, graduating 13th of 45 cadets in 1887. Suzuki served on thecorvettesTsukuba,Tenryū andcruiserTakachiho as amidshipman. On being commissioned asensign, he served on the corvetteAmagi, cruiserTakao, corvetteJingei, ironcladKongō, and gunboatMaya. After his promotion tolieutenant on 21 December 1892, he served as chief navigator on the corvettesKaimon,Hiei, andKongō.[4]
Suzuki served in theFirst Sino-Japanese War, commanding atorpedo boat and participated in a nighttorpedo assault in theBattle of Weihaiwei in 1895. Afterwards, he was promoted tolieutenant commander on 28 June 1898 after graduation from theNaval Staff College and assigned to a number of staff positions including that ofnaval attaché toGermany from 1901 to 1903.[4] On his return, he was promoted tocommander on 26 September 1903. He came to be known as the leading torpedo warfare expert in the Imperial Japanese Navy.[6]
During theRusso-Japanese War, Suzuki commanded Destroyer Division 2 in 1904, which picked up survivors of thePort Arthur Blockade Squadron during theBattle of Port Arthur. He was appointedexecutive officer of the cruiserKasuga on 26 February 1904, aboard which he participated in theBattle of the Yellow Sea. During the pivotalBattle of Tsushima, Suzuki was commander of Destroyer Division 4 under theIJN 2nd Fleet, which assisted in sinking the Russian battleshipNavarin.[6]
After the war, Suzuki was promoted tocaptain on 28 September 1907 and commanded thedestroyer Akashi (1908), followed by the cruiserSoya (1909),battleshipShikishima (1911) and cruiserTsukuba (1912). Promoted torear admiral on 23 May 1913 and assigned to command theMaizuru Naval District. Suzuki became Vice Minister of the Navy from 1914 to 1917, duringWorld War I.[6] Promoted tovice admiral on 1 June 1917,[4] he brought the cruisersAsama andIwate toSan Francisco in early 1918 with 1,000 cadets, and was received byU.S. NavyRear AdmiralWilliam Fullam. The Japanese cruisers then proceeded toSouth America. After stints as Commandant of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Commander of theIJN 2nd Fleet, then theIJN 3rd Fleet, thenKure Naval District, he became a fulladmiral on 3 August 1923. Suzuki becameCommander in Chief ofCombined Fleet in 1924.[4] After serving as Chief ofImperial Japanese Navy General Staff from 15 April 1925 to 22 January 1929, he retired and accepted the position asPrivy Councillor andGrand Chamberlain from 1929 to 1936.
Suzuki narrowly escaped assassination in theFebruary 26 Incident in 1936; the would-be assassin's bullet remained inside his body for the rest of his life, and was only revealed upon hiscremation. Suzuki was opposed to Japan's war with the United States, before and throughoutWorld War II.
On 7 April 1945,Prime MinisterKuniaki Koiso resigned and Suzuki was appointed to take his place at the age of seventy-seven. He simultaneously held the portfolios forMinister for Foreign Affairs and forGreater East Asia.
Prime Minister Suzuki contributed to the final peace negotiations with theAllied Powers in World War II. He was involved in calling two unprecedented imperial conferences which helped resolve the split within theJapanese Imperial Cabinet over thePotsdam Declaration. He outlined the terms to emperorHirohito who had already agreed to acceptunconditional surrender. This went strongly against the military faction of the cabinet, who desired to continue the war in hopes of negotiating a more favorable peace agreement. Part of this faction attempted to assassinate Suzuki twice in theKyūjō Incident on the morning of 15 August 1945.
After thesurrender of Japan became public, Suzuki resigned andPrince Higashikuni became the next prime minister. Suzuki was the Chairman of thePrivy Council from 7 August 1944 to 7 June 1945 and again after the surrender of Japan from 15 December 1945 to 13 June 1946.
Suzuki died of natural causes on 17 April, 1948. His grave is in his home town of Noda, Chiba. One of his two sons became director of Japan's immigration service, while the other was a successful lawyer.
From the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article
| Empire of Japan (1868–1947) |
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| State of Japan (1947–present) |
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