Tōgō Shigenori

Tōgō Shigenori (1882–1950),prominent Japanese diplomat who became foreign minister before the outbreak of the Pacific war in December 1941, and at its end. Born in Kagoshima, he studied at Tokyo University. After a brief career as a university teacher he became a diplomat in 1912. He capped a long diplomatic career overseas by becoming in 1937 ambassador to Germany, though he was thought to be opposed to the Anti-Comintern pact reached between Germany and Japan during the previous year. In 1938 he was transferred as ambassador to the USSR and conducted important negotiations over fisheries in Soviet far eastern waters and the Japanese military defeat at the battle of Nomonhan in September 1939 (see Japanese–Soviet campaigns). In July 1940 Tōgō presented Moscow with the draft of a neutrality pact with the USSR, but he was almost immediately recalled to Tokyo. He was out of favour for a year but in October 1941 returned to service as foreign minister in the cabinet of General Tōjō and was involved in the last-minute negotiations with Washington, which eventually failed with the outbreak of war. Tōgō was in favour of an early peace with the USA during the Pacific war and fell out with Tōjō over the founding of the Greater East Asia Ministry. He resigned in September 1943 and became a member of the House of Peers.

When a new cabinet was formed in April 1945 Tōgō agreed to become foreign minister on the understanding that he would work towards peace. He tried to exploit his contacts in Moscow to persuade the USSR to mediate just before the Potsdam conference (see TERMINAL). Although the terms of the Potsdam Declaration were much more severe Tōgō, following the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August, favoured the acceptance of it. Emperor Hirohito accepted the views of the peace party and Japan capitulated on 14 August. Almost immediately the whole cabinet resigned. In 1946 Tōgō was arrested and prosecuted (see Far East war crimes trials) and two years later was sentenced to 20 years' hard labour, but died in an American military hospital after writing his autobiography, Jidai no ichimen, which covers his career as a diplomat.

Ian Nish

Bibliography

Butow, R. J. D. , Japan's Decision to Surrender (Stanford, Calif., 1954).