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109-608: Prince Fumimaro Konoe ( 近衞 文麿 , Konoe Fumimaro , 12 October 1891 – 16 December 1945) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the United States , which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II . He played a central role in transforming his country into

218-739: A totalitarian state by pushing through the State General Mobilization Law in 1938 and by establishing the Imperial Rule Assistance Association while dissolving all other political parties in 1940. Born in Tokyo to a prominent aristocratic family, Konoe graduated from Kyoto University and took up his father's seat in the House of Peers in 1916. He was a member of the Japanese delegation at

327-458: A "tripartite relationship of . . . Japan, Manchukuo , and China" would "create a new culture, and realize close economic cohesion throughout east Asia." In April 1938, Konoe and the military pushed a State General Mobilization Law through the Diet, which declared a state of emergency , allowed the central government to control all manpower and material, and rationed the flow of raw materials into

436-452: A consensus emerged among Japanese military leadership that the nation was not ready for war with China, and a truce was made on 11 July. The ceasefire was broken by 20 July after Konoe's government sent more divisions to China, causing full-scale war to erupt. In November 1937, Konoe instituted a new system of joint conference between the civil government and the military called liaison conferences . In attendance at these liaison meetings were

545-491: A diplomatic breakthrough, a draft of understanding between the US and Japan. The basis of this agreement had been drafted by two American Maryknoll priests James Edward Walsh and James M. Drought, who had met Roosevelt through Postmaster General Frank C. Walker . The outline of the proposal, which had been drafted in consultation with banker Tadao Ikawa, Colonel Hideo Iwakura , and Nomura, included American recognition of Manchukuo,

654-445: A final decision. The army and the navy were in opposition to each other and held separate high-level meetings, each respectively confirming their resolve to either go to war or pull back from the brink. But Nagano continued to oppose open confrontation of the army, while Oikawa did not want to take the lead as the only member of the liaison conference to oppose war. Kazoku The Kazoku ( 華族 , "Magnificent/Exalted lineage")

763-815: A high-ranking aristocratic background, he chose to study at the First Higher School for university preparatory education, instead of staying at Gakushuin. Upon graduating in 1912, he proceeded to study philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University , where he again studied together with his former peers from Gakushuin. He subsequently transferred to Kyoto Imperial University to pursue studies in Marxian economics. At Kyoto Imperial University, Fumimaro studied socialism, translating Oscar Wilde 's " The Soul of Man Under Socialism " into Japanese. There, he met genrō Saionji Kinmochi and became his protégé. After graduation, Fumimaro turned to Saionji for advice about starting

872-523: A key role in the fall of the Tōjō Cabinet in 1944. At the start of the Allied occupation of Japan in 1945, he briefly served as a minister in the cabinet of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni , but came under suspicion of war crimes . In December, Konoe committed suicide by ingesting cyanide before he could be arrested by the authorities. Fumimaro Konoe (often Konoye ), was born in Tokyo on 12 October 1891 to

981-581: A letter telling him that he should not have let the military occupy southern Indochina while negotiations with the U.S. were still ongoing. Konoe responded that the ships were already dispatched and could not turn back in time, and that all he could do was pray for "divine intervention." On 6 August, Konoe's government announced that it would only pull out of Indochina when the war in China was concluded, rejected Roosevelt's neutralization proposal, but promised not to expand further and asked for US mediation in ending

1090-539: A liaison conference was held, during which he voiced his opposition to the draft of understanding, believing it would betray their Nazi allies. After arguing that Japan should let Germany see this draft, he left the meeting, citing exhaustion, Konoe also retreated to his villa, also claiming a fever, instead of forcing the issue. Matsuoka pushed for an immediate attack on British Singapore and began to openly criticise Konoe and his cabinet, leading to suspicions that he wanted to replace Konoe as prime minister. Matsuoka changed

1199-447: A member of Konoe's cabinet and former prime minister, had been shot six times by an ultra-nationalist because he was seen as too close to Grew.) Konoe told Grew that he was prepared to travel to meet Roosevelt on a moment's notice. Grew then urged his superiors to advise Roosevelt to accept the summit proposal. The day after the imperial conference, Konoe arranged a meeting between Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni and army minister Tojo, which

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1308-793: A political career, and worked briefly in the home ministry before accompanying his mentor to Versailles as part of the Japanese peace delegation. But first, Konoe completed two tasks. With Kiku, one of several geisha lovers in his life, he fathered an illegitimate child. And in December 1918, he also published an essay entitled "Reject the Anglo-American -Centered Pacifism " (英米本位の平和主義を排す, eibei-hon'i no heiwashugi o haisu ). In this article, he argued that western democracies were supporting democracy , peace, and self-determination only hypocritically , while actually undermining those ideals through racially discriminatory imperialism . He attacked

1417-551: A political party akin to Nazi party, believing it would revive the political strife of the 1920s. Additionally, he worried that becoming the head of a political party would be beneath the dignity of a nobleman. Instead, he worked to promote the IRAA as the sole political order. Even before Konoe had been recalled, the army had already planned an invasion of French Indochina . The invasion would secure needed resources to wage war with China, cut off western supply of Kuomintang armies, put

1526-551: A replacement. Konoe was recalled after Saionji — for the last time before his death later that year — again endorsed him. On 23 June, Konoe resigned his position as Chairman of the Privy Council, and on 16 July 1940, the Yonai Cabinet resigned and Konoe was appointed prime minister again. Konoe did set out to end the war in with China. But Konoe also deemed political parties as too liberal and divisive, thereby aiding

1635-410: A right to expansion in China, that such expansion was survival , and that the "Anglo-American powers were hypocrites seeking to enforce their economic dominance of the world." Despite his tutelage under the liberal-leaning Saionji Kinmochi , his study of socialism at university, and his support of universal suffrage, he seemed to have had a contradictory attraction to fascism, which angered and alarmed

1744-540: A rigid timetable imposed by the military on the negotiations and his administration's own inflexibility set the two countries on the path to war. Politically isolated, Konoe resigned as premier in October 1941 and was replaced by Hideki Tojo . Six weeks later, the Pacific War broke out after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor . Konoe remained a close advisor to Emperor Hirohito until the end of World War II and played

1853-564: A rival to Japan in international relations. In 1916, while at university, Fumimaro took his father's seat in the House of Peers , upper house of the Imperial Diet . After his return from Europe he was aggressively recruited by the most powerful political faction of Japan's budding Taishō democracy of the 1920s: the kenkyukai , a conservative, militaristic faction, led by Yamagata Aritomo and generally opposed to democratic reform. In September 1922, he joined them. The opposing faction

1962-516: A scholarly journal and an 11,000-page report, entitled A Comprehensive Book on the Economics Conditions in China . Graduates of both schools were highly sought after by the Japanese military, Japanese secret intelligence services and ultranationalist organizations for their language skills and in-depth knowledge of China. Many of its graduates later worked for the government of Manchukuo in the 1930s. In August 1903, Konoe established

2071-492: A speech in 1935, Konoe said that the "monopolization" of resources by the Anglo-American alliance must end and be replaced by an " international new deal " to help countries like Japan take care of their growing populations. Konoe's views were thus a recapitulation of those he had expressed at Versailles almost 20 years earlier. He still believed that Japan was the equal and the rival of the western powers, that Japan had

2180-494: A statement declaring that Kuomintang aggression had not ceased despite its defeat, that it was "subjecting its people to great misery", and that Japan would no longer deal with Chiang. Six days later, he gave a speech where he blamed China for the continued conflict. When later asked for clarifications, Konoe said he meant more than just non-recognition of Chiang's regime but "rejected it" and would "eradicate it". The American historian Gerhard Weinberg wrote about Konoe's escalation of

2289-426: A style that matched their status, living standards varied significantly from family to family. Kuge families, long having been seen as a spent force since the samurai class became the de facto ruling class in the 11th century, tended to be significantly worse off than daimyo families. The Nara kazoku (奈良華族), consisting of 26 monk families from Kofukuji , who descended from kuge families (22 of which belonged to

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2398-404: A total of 509 peers. By 1928, through promotions and new creations, there were a total of 954 peers: 18 non-imperial princes, 40 marquesses, 108 counts, 379 viscounts and 409 barons. The kazoku reached a peak of 1016 families in 1944. The 1947 Constitution of Japan abolished the kazoku and ended the use of all titles of nobility or rank outside the immediate Imperial Family. Since

2507-411: A war with the U.S., Japan must prepare for it and wage it rather than be encircled and destroyed. On 10 September, Nomura met with Hull, who told him that the latest Japanese offer was a non-starter and that Japan would have to make concessions in regard to China before the summit meeting could take place. On 20 September, a liaison meeting passed a revised proposal that actually hardened conditions for

2616-598: A withdrawal from China. At the liaison conference of September 25, sensing that summit negotiations were stalling, Tojo and the militarists pressed the cabinet to commit to an actual deadline for war of October 15. After this meeting, Konoe told lord keeper of the privy seal Kōichi Kido that he was going to resign, but Kido talked him out of it. Konoe then secluded himself in a villa at Kamakura until 2 October, leaving foreign minister Toyoda to take charge of negotiations in his absence. Toyoda asked ambassador Grew to tell Roosevelt that Konoe would only be able to grant concessions at

2725-419: The kazoku in 1884. The heads of eight other families ( Daigo , Hirohata , Kikutei , Koga , Saionji , Tokudaiji , Ōinomikado and Kasannoin ) all with the rank of seiga , the second rank in the kuge , became marquesses at the same time. Those family heads in the third tier of the kuge and with the rank of daijin became counts. Heads of families in the lowest three tiers (those in

2834-473: The kazoku . The initial rank distribution for kazoku houses of kuge descent depended on the highest possible office to which its ancestors had been entitled in the imperial court. Thus, the heirs of the five regent houses ( go-sekke ) of the Fujiwara dynasty ( Konoe , Takatsukasa , Kujō , Ichijō and Nijō ) all became princes, the equivalent of a European duke , upon the establishment of

2943-511: The 26 February incident , who had attempted to assassinate his mentor Saionji. Konoe retained the military and legal ministers from the previous cabinet upon assumption of the premiership, and refused to take ministers from the political parties, as he was not interested in resurrecting party government. One month later, Japanese troops clashed with Chinese troops near Beijing in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident . Nevertheless,

3052-636: The Battle of Shanghai and Nanjing Massacre , and in 1938 pushed through the State General Mobilization Law, which placed Japan on war footing. He proposed a " Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere " under Japanese leadership. Konoe resigned as premier in 1939 as Chinese resistance continued and the war dragged on. Konoe served as chairman of the Privy Council until 1940, when he was again appointed prime minister. He founded

3161-625: The Diet of Japan upon their succession or upon majority (in the case of peers who were minors). Counts, viscounts and barons elected up to 150 representatives from their ranks to sit in the House of Peers. Under the Peerage Act of 7 July 1884 , pushed through by Home Minister and future first Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi after visiting Europe , the Meiji government expanded the hereditary peerage with

3270-894: The First Sino-Japanese War . The society opened a college in Nanjing called the East Asia Common Cultural College ( 東亜同文書院 , Toa Dōbun Shoin ) in 1900, which was relocated to Shanghai in 1901. The college recruited students from Japan wishing to learn the Chinese language and Chinese culture , and sponsored a school in Tokyo for Chinese students seeking higher education in Japan (its successor institution being that of Aichi University ( 愛知大学 , Aichi Daigaku ) ). The society also published

3379-678: The House of Peers , diplomats (e.g., Prince Iemasa Tokugawa , Marquess Naohiro Nabeshima ), and scholars (e.g., Marquess Yoshichika Tokugawa , Prince Tomohide Iwakura ). Those who followed rather unusual career paths included Marquess Hijikata Yoshi , who became a communist and fled to Soviet Russia , and Meiho Ogasawara , an heir to a viscountcy who pursued his passion for films and was disinherited in 1935. Kazoku usually married within their class. The Imperial Household Law of 1889 prohibited Imperial Princes from marrying commoners, hence their options were limited to Princesses and daughters of kazoku families. Kazoku daughters who married into

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3488-475: The House of Yi was mediatized as an incorporated and therefore subordinate kingship ( 王 ) . Excluding the Tokugawas , the initial kazoku rank distribution for the former daimyō lords depended on rice revenue: those with 150,000 koku or more became marquesses, those with 50,000 koku or more become counts, and those with holdings rated below 50,000 koku became viscounts. The head of

3597-564: The Imperial Japanese Army was doubtful about its ability to advance up the Yangtze river valley, and favoured taking up a German offer of mediation to end the war with China. Konoe, by contrast, was not interested in peace, and instead chose to escalate the war by suggesting deliberately humiliating terms that he knew Chiang Kai-shek would never accept in order to win a "total victory" over China. In January 1938, Konoe issued

3706-629: The League of Nations as an effort to institutionalize the status quo: colonial hegemony by the western powers . Following a translation by American journalist Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard , Saionji wrote a rebuttal in his journal, Millard's Review of the Far East . Saionji considered Konoe's writing reckless, but, after it became internationally read, Konoe was invited to dinner by Sun Yat-sen . Sun admired Japan's quick modernization ; at

3815-565: The Paris Peace Conference following World War I , and served as president of the House of Peers from 1933 to 1937, when he became prime minister on the recommendation of his mentor Saionji Kinmochi . When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident took place a month later, Konoe took a belligerent stance, and it escalated into full-scale warfare. He oversaw the early phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War , including

3924-534: The Tokugawa clan , Tokugawa Iesato , became a prince, the heads of primary Tokugawa branch houses ( shinpan daimyō ) became marquesses, the heads of the secondary branches became counts and the heads of more distant branches became viscounts. The head of the Matsudaira ( Fukui Domain ) branch was raised to the rank of marquess from the rank of count in 1888. In 1902, the former shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu

4033-589: The University of Bonn and University of Leipzig in Germany . After returning to Japan, he became a member of the House of Peers and in 1895 became president of Gakushuin Peer's School. Later Konoe served as the 3rd President of the House of Peers, presiding over its 10th through 18th sessions from October 3, 1896, to December 4, 1903. From 1903 he concurrently served as a Privy Councillor . Domestically, Konoe

4142-434: The kenkyukai . However, by 1923, the seiyukai had split into two factions and could no longer control the government. During the premiership of Kato Komei and his party, the kenseikai , Konoe supported universal male suffrage to forestall serious curtailment of the noble privileges. Konoe believed universal male suffrage was the best way to channel popular discontent and thereby reduce the chance of violent revolution. As

4251-403: The police , elections , public works, Shinto shrines , and land development. The home ministry was also abused to influence elections in favour of the ruling party. Despite having once believed it to be beneath the dignity of a nobleman, Konoe entered into an alliance with important home ministry officials. The most important among these officials was Yoshiharu Tazawa, whom he met after he became

4360-523: The three great nobles of the Meiji Restoration, were ennobled as marquesses in 1884, followed by the heirs of samurai general-politician Saigō Takamori in 1902. As in the British peerage , only the actual holder of a title and his consort were considered members of the kazoku . The holders of the top two ranks, prince and marquess, automatically became members of the House of Peers in

4469-545: The 1920s Japanese foreign policy was largely in line with Anglo-American policy, the Treaty of Versailles , and the Washington Naval Conference treaty, and there was agreement between the great powers over the establishment of an independent Chinese state. A flourishing party system controlled the cabinet in alliance with industry. The Great Depression of the 1930s, the rise of Soviet military power in

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4578-752: The Dutch in January 1941 in an attempt to secure an alternate source of oil. In February 1941 Konoe chose Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura as Japanese ambassador to the U.S. Matsuoka and Stalin signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in Moscow on 13 April 1941, which made it clear that the Soviets would not help the Allies in the event of war with Japan. On April 18, 1941, word arrived from Nomura of

4687-455: The Emperor approved the cabinet's decision at an imperial conference after being given assurance by the two chiefs of staff that diplomacy was the primary emphasis, with war only as a fall-back option in the event of diplomatic failure. That same evening, Konoe arranged a dinner in secrecy with U.S. ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew . (This was somewhat perilous: on 15 August, Hiranuma Kiichiro ,

4796-459: The Fujiwara clan), were all made barons under the kazoku system. They were regarded as the poorest and received extra stipends to support their living. A 1915 survey found that a kazoku family had around 13 servants on average, while the grandest families had hundreds. Almost all kazoku heirs raised in Japan attended Gakushuin for their primary and secondary education. For higher education,

4905-554: The House of Peers in 1931. In 1932, political parties lost control of the cabinet. Thenceforth, cabinets were formed by alliances of political elites and military factions. As Japan mobilized its resources for war, the government increased suppression of political parties and what remained of the left wing. Konoe ascended to the presidency of the House of Peers in 1933 and spent the next few years mediating between elite political factions, elite policy consensus, and national unity. Meanwhile, Fumimaro sent his eldest son Fumitaka to study in

5014-614: The Imperial Rule Assistance Association later that year, and Japan concluded the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy . Konoe was in office when Japanese troops invaded French Indochina , and he formally recognized Wang Jingwei's government in Nanjing and concluded the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact . Konoe attempted to resolve growing tensions with the United States , but

5123-618: The Imperial family include Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu (née Tokugawa ), Yuriko, Princess Mikasa (née Takagi ), and Setsuko, Princess Chichibu (née Matsudaira ). Konoe Atsumaro After the Meiji Restoration , the Konoe family were devolved from the ranks of the nobility and given the peerage title of Prince or Duke ( koshaku ) under the new kazoku peerage system. From 1885 to 1890, Konoe visited Europe , attending

5232-527: The Imperial family. Thus the head of the seiga -ranked Sanjo  [ ja ] house became a prince in 1884. The heads of the Tokudaiji and the Saionji houses were advanced to the rank of prince from the rank of marquess in 1911 and 1920, respectively. In recognition of his father's role in the Meiji Restoration , Iwakura Tomosada , the heir of noble Iwakura Tomomi and whose family had been in

5341-438: The Japanese army would have to demonstrate that they were going to pull troops out of French Indochina and China. At the 4 October liaison conference, Hull's response was still being processed and could not be fully discussed; Nagano changed his position and now agreed with the army and advocated a deadline for war. Konoe and Oikawa were largely silent and did not try to bring him back to the side of negotiation, further postponing

5450-402: The Japanese market. Japanese victories continued at Xuzhou, Hankow, Canton, Wuchang, and Hanyang, but Chinese resistance nonetheless continued. Konoe resigned in January 1939, leaving the war that he had a large part in making to be finished by someone else, and was appointed chairman of the Privy Council . The Japanese public, which had been told that the war was an endless series of victories,

5559-569: The Japanese military in a strategic location to threaten more territory, and would hopefully intimidate the Dutch East Indies into supplying Japan with oil. The U.S. responded with the Export Control Act and increased aid to Chiang. Despite this response, foreign minister Yosuke Matsuoka signed the Tripartite Pact on 27 September 1940, over the objection of some of Konoe's advisors, including former Japanese ambassador to

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5668-431: The Japanese takeover of southern Indochina was complete, hoping that if it went peacefully, perhaps the U.S. could be convinced to tolerate the occupation without intervention. On 14 July, Matsuoka drafted a response — through illness — which said Japan would not abandon the tripartite pact. He attacked Hull's statement, which had been aimed largely at him, and the next day he sent the response to Germany for approval. Sending

5777-636: The Sino-Japanese treaty with Wang Jingwei , who had been a disciple of Sun Yat-sen and headed a rival Kuomintang government in Nanjing. But Konoe's Government did not relinquish all held territory to Jinwei's government, undercutting its authority, and Wang's government was largely seen as an illegitimate puppet . In December 1940, the British reopened the Burma Road and lent 10 million pounds to Chiang's Kuomintang. Konoe recommenced negotiations with

5886-418: The U.S. Kikujiro Ishii . In a press conference on 4 October, Konoe said the U.S. should not misunderstand the intentions of the tripartite powers and should help them to build a new world order. Additionally he said that if the U.S. did not end its provocative actions and deliberately chose to misunderstand the actions of the tripartite powers, there would be no option left but war. In November 1940, Japan signed

5995-596: The U.S. draft into a counteroffer that essentially gutted most of the Japanese concessions in regard to China and expansion in the Pacific and had Nomura deliver it to Washington. On Sunday, 22 June 1941, Hitler broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union. Coincident with the invasion, Cordell Hull delivered another amendment of the draft on understanding to the Japanese, but this time there

6104-534: The U.S., at Princeton , wishing to prepare him for politics and make him an able proponent of Japan in America. Unlike most of his elite contemporaries, Fumimaro had not been educated abroad due to his father's poor finances. Fumimaro visited Fumitaka in 1934 and he was shocked by rising anti-Japanese sentiment . This experience deepened his resentment of the U.S., which he perceived as selfish and racist, and which he blamed for its failure to avert economic disaster. In

6213-525: The ageing genrō . At a costume party before Saionji's daughter was married in 1937, he dressed as Adolf Hitler . Despite these misgivings, Saionji nominated Konoe to the Emperor Hirohito , and in June 1937 Konoe became Prime Minister . Upon assuming office, First Konoe Cabinet spent the short time between then and war with China attempting to secure pardons for the ultranationalist leaders of

6322-521: The ambassador that if Japan would agree to pull out of Indochina and agree to its being granted a status of neutrality, Japanese assets could be unfrozen. Roosevelt implied that Japanese expansion in China would be tolerated, but Indochina was a red line. He expressed how disturbed he was that Japan could not see that Hitler was bent on world domination. Konoe did not take aggressive action in implementing Roosevelt's offer, and could not restrain militarists, led by Hideki Tojo . As minister of war, Tojo regarded

6431-745: The award of kazoku status to persons regarded as having performed distinguished public services to the nation. The government also divided the kazoku into five ranks explicitly based on the British peerage , but with titles deriving from the ancient Chinese nobility . Usually, though not always, titles and hereditary financial stipends passed according to primogeniture . Unlike in European peerage systems, but following traditional Japanese custom, illegitimate sons could succeed to titles and estates. To prevent their lineages from dying out, heads of kazoku houses could (and frequently did) adopt sons from collateral branches of their own houses, whether in

6540-444: The clan which had remained loyal to the Emperor during the conflict, was raised to the rank of marquess, having been ennobled as a count in 1884. Many of those who had significant roles in the Meiji Restoration, or their heirs, were ennobled. Ito Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo were ennobled as counts in 1884, promoted to marquesses in 1895 and finally became princes in 1907. The heirs of Okubo Toshimichi and Kido Takayoshi , two of

6649-705: The dinner, they discussed pan-Asian nationalism. During the Paris Peace Conference , Konoe was one of the Japanese diplomats who proposed the Racial Equality Proposal for the Covenant of the League of Nations. When the Racial Equality Clause came up before the committee, it received the support of Japan, France , Serbia , Greece , Italy , Brazil , Czechoslovakia , and China . However, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson overturned

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6758-486: The draft to the Germans without the cabinet's permission was the final straw. Konoe and his cabinet resigned en masse and reformed the government without Matsuoka on 16 July, when Matsuoka did not attend due to illness. The Third Konoe Cabinet was formally created on 18 July 1941, with admiral Teijirō Toyoda as foreign minister . The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration hoped that Matsuoka's dismissal would mean Japan

6867-464: The east, further insistence on limitations to Japanese naval power , and increased Chinese resistance to Japanese aggression in Asia marked the abandonment of Japanese cooperation with the Anglo-American powers. The Japanese government began to seek autonomy in foreign policy, and — as the sense of crisis deepened — unity and mobilization became overarching imperatives. Konoe assumed the vice presidency of

6976-568: The emphasis from war to negotiation; Konoe replied that would be politically impossible, and the emperor then asked why he had been kept in the dark about these military preparations. The emperor then questioned Sugiyama about the chances of success of an open war with the West. After Sugiyama answered positively, Hirohito scolded him, remembering that the Army had predicted that the invasion of China would be completed in only three months. On 6 September,

7085-716: The end of the war, many descendants of the kazoku families continue to occupy prominent roles in Japanese society and industry. The Kazoku Kaikan ( 華族会館 ) , or Peers' Club, was the association of the high nobility. It had its headquarters in the Rokumeikan building. After 1947 it was renamed the Kasumi Kaikan ( 霞会館 ) and is located in the Kasumigaseki Building in Kasumigaseki . Although kazoku families were supposed to live in

7194-516: The family was able to become solvent. Fumimaro's younger brother, Hidemaro Konoye , later became a symphony conductor and founded NHK Symphony Orchestra . After graduating from Taimei Elementary School , he went on to study at Gakushuin , which was an institution to educate the children of the children of Japan's nobility . He was inspired by Inazo Nitobe , the dean of the First Higher School . Uncharacteristically for someone from

7303-399: The film Kazoku above). Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto , the kuge ( 公家 ) , regained some of its lost status. Several members of the kuge , such as Iwakura Tomomi and Nakayama Tadayasu , played a crucial role in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate , and the early Meiji government nominated kuge to head all seven of

7412-434: The foreign minister was now advocating an immediate attack on the Soviet Union, and did so directly to the emperor. Konoe was forced to apologize to the emperor and assure him that Japan was not about to go to war with the Soviet Union. Masanobu Tsuji had planned to assassinate Konoe if peace had occurred with the United States in order for Japan to attack the Soviet Union, which was at war with Japan's ally Germany. Matsuoka

7521-631: The fourth tier of kuge nobility, with the rank of urin , was ennobled as a prince in 1884. Nakayama Tadayasu , the Meiji Emperor 's maternal grandfather and also from an urin -ranked family, was ennobled as a marquess. The head of the Shō family , the former royal family of the Ryūkyū Kingdom ( Okinawa ), was given the title of marquess. When the Korean Empire was annexed in 1910,

7630-409: The go-sekke "; Fumimaro would be its 29th leader. While the average height of Japanese people at that time was around 160 cm (5 ft 3 in), Konoe was over 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall. Konoe's father, Atsumaro , had been politically active, having organized the Anti-Russia Society in 1903. Fumimaro's mother died shortly after his birth; his father then married her younger sister. Fumimaro

7739-416: The head of the main family line of the Date clan , which had formerly ruled the extensive Sendai Domain , was only ennobled as a count and was thus denied a hereditary seat in the House of Peers ; this was likely due to the domain's prominent role as the leader of a coalition against the Imperial forces during the Boshin War . In 1891, the head of the Date-Uwajima family ( Uwajima Domain ), a cadet branch of

7848-467: The home ministry, which had seen great turnover mirroring the political upheaval occurring in the Diet. Konoe's association with the youth hall began two months after the publication of an article in July 1921, where he stressed education of the electorate's political wisdom and morality, and lamented that education only taught youth to accept ideas passively from their superiors. The Youth Corps ( Seinendan )

7957-572: The house of peers became allied with different political factions in the lower house, Konoe left the kenkyukai in November 1927. Like his position in regard to the nobility, he believed that the emperor should not take political positions. In his eyes, a political emperor would diminish the imperial prestige, undermine the unifying power of the throne, expose the emperor to criticism, and potentially undermine domestic tranquillity. His greatest fear in this period of rapid industrialization would become

8066-548: The male or female lines of descent, and from other kazoku houses whether related or not. Unlike European custom, the adopted heir of a peer could succeed to a title ahead of a more senior heir in terms of primogeniture. A 1904 amendment to the 1889 Imperial Household Law allowed minor princes ( ō ) of the imperial family to renounce their imperial status and become peers (in their own right) or heirs to childless peers. Initially there were 11 non-imperial princes, 24 marquesses, 76 counts, 324 viscounts and 74 barons, for

8175-498: The managing director of the Japan Youth Hall ( Nippon Seinenkan ) in 1921. Konoe and his allies saw the influence of local meiboka political bosses as a threat to Japan's political stability. Universal suffrage had opened the vote to the undereducated peasantry, but local bosses, using pork-barrel politics, manipulated their influence on the government. These officials also shared Konoe's concern about party influence within

8284-513: The merging of Chiang's government with the Japanese-backed Reorganized National Government of China , normalization of trade relations, withdrawal of Japanese troops from China, mutual respect for Chinese independence, and an agreement that Japanese immigration to the United States would proceed on the basis of equality with other nationals free from discrimination. When Matsuoka returned to Tokyo,

8393-541: The most preferred institutions included the University of Tokyo (called Tokyo Imperial University 1897-1947) (e.g., Prince Iemasa Tokugawa , Count Yoriyasu Arima ) and the naval and army academies (e.g., Viscount Naganari Ogasawara , Marquess Toshinari Maeda ). Some opted to be educated overseas, such as at Eton College (e.g., Prince Iesato Tokugawa ) and Cambridge University (e.g., Marquess Masauji Hachisuka , Baron Koayata Iwasaki ). After completing their education, they pursued varied careers such as statesmen at

8502-413: The navy being acutely aware of the long odds of victory in the event of war with the U.S. Oikawa returned to Tokyo and seemed to secure the cooperation of navy chief of staff Nagano, including Toyoda as foreign minister they formed a potential majority in the next liaison conference. On October 2, Hull delivered to Nomura a statement constituting the preconditions for a summit meeting. Hull made it clear that

8611-511: The newly established administrative departments. The Meiji oligarchs , as part of their Westernizing reforms, merged the kuge with the former daimyō ( 大名 , feudal lords) into an expanded aristocratic class on 25 July 1869, to recognize that the kuge and former daimyō were a social class distinct from the other designated social classes of shizoku ( 士族 , former samurai) and heimin ( 平民 , commoners) . They lost their territorial privileges. Itō Hirobumi , one of

8720-431: The parties should run for office. The Association for Election Purification ( Senkyo Shukusei Dōmeikai ) was also created, an organization whose purpose was to circumvent and weaken pork-barrel local politics by supporting candidates that were not beholden to meiboka bosses. The alliance formed a political party ( meiseikai ) but was unable to secure popular support and dissolved within two years of formation (in 1928). In

8829-473: The prime minister, the foreign minister, the ministers of the army and navy, and their chiefs of general staff. This arrangement resulted in an imbalance in favor of the military, since each member in attendance had an equal say in policymaking. Prior to the capture of Nanjing, Chang Kai-shek , through the German ambassador in China, attempted to negotiate, but Konoe rejected the overture. After taking Nanjing,

8938-454: The principal authors of the Meiji constitution , intended the new kazoku peerage to serve as a political and social bulwark for the "restored" emperor and the Japanese imperial institution. At the time, the kuge (142 families) and former daimyō (285 families) consisted of a group of total 427 families . All members of the kazoku without an official government appointment in

9047-402: The pro-war factions in the military. The Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA) was created in 1940 under Second Konoe Cabinet as a wartime mobilization organization, ironically in alliance with local meiboka , since their cooperation was required to mobilize the rural population. Konoe's government pressured political parties to dissolve into the IRAA, though he resisted calls to form

9156-482: The prominent Konoe family , one of the main branches of the ancient Fujiwara clan . This made the Konoe "head of the most prestigious, and highest ranking noble house in the realm." They had first become independent of the Fujiwara in the 12th century, when Minamoto no Yoritomo divided the Fujiwara into the Five Regent Houses ( go-sekke ). Japanese historian Eri Hotta described the Konoe as " First among

9265-435: The provinces were initially obliged to reside in Tokyo . By the end of 1869, a pension system was adopted, which gradually displaced the kazoku from their posts as provincial governors and as government leaders. The stipends promised by the government were eventually replaced by government bonds . In 1884 the kazoku were reorganized and the old feudal titles were replaced with: There were several categories within

9374-417: The ranks of urin , mei and han ) typically became viscounts, but could also be ennobled as counts. Other appointments to the two highest ranks in the kazoku —prince and marquess—from among the kuge were also made to reward certain kuge families for their roles in the Meiji Restoration , for taking a prominent role in national affairs or for their close degree of relationship to

9483-406: The same time, Japan would commit to war if a peace agreement did not materialize by mid-October. Moreover, Japan would not abandon the tripartite pact. Konoe, Saionji, and his supporters had drafted a proposal that emphasized a willingness to withdraw troops from China, but Konoe did not introduce this proposal and instead acceded to a proposal from the foreign ministry. The difference in the proposals

9592-512: The seizure as irreversible due to its approval by the emperor. On 28 July, the Japanese began to formally occupy southern Indochina. In response, on August 1, the U.S. embargoed oil exports to Japan, surprising Konoe's cabinet. Finding a replacement source of petroleum was paramount, as the U.S. supplied 93% of Japan's oil in 1940. Navy chief of staff Osami Nagano informed Emperor Hirohito that Japan's oil stockpiles would be completely depleted in two years. The same day, Hachirō Arita wrote Konoe

9701-446: The summit but could not commit beforehand due to the influence of the militarists and the risk that any conciliation beforehand would be leaked to the Germans in an effort to bring down the Konoe cabinet. Grew argued in favour of the summit to Roosevelt in a communication on 29 September. On 1 October, Konoe summoned navy minister Koshirō Oikawa to Kamakura , where he secured his commitment of cooperation in acceptance American demands,

9810-412: The threat of left-wing revolution, facilitated by the petty factionalism of Taishō democracy's political factions. He saw the peerage as a bulwark of stability committed to tranquillity, harmony, and the maintenance of the status quo. Its function was to restrain the excesses of the elected government, but its power had to be used sparingly. The Japanese home ministry was extremely powerful, in charge of

9919-464: The vote, declaring that the clause needed unanimous support. Konoe took the rejection of the Racial Equality Clause very badly, seeing it as a humiliation of Japan. Upon his return to Japan he published a booklet where he described his travels to France, Britain and the U.S. Konoe noted how he was angered by rising anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States and how the US government discriminated against Japanese immigrants . He also described China as

10028-408: The war in China. On 8 August, Konoe requested, through Nomura, a meeting with Roosevelt. The suggestion came from Kinkazu Saionji, the grandson of his deceased mentor Saionji Kinmochi. Kinkazu advised Konoe through a monthly informal breakfast club, where Konoe consulted with civilian elites about policy. Hotsumi Ozaki , who was a friend and advisor to Konoe, was a member of this same breakfast club; he

10137-473: The war: "The one time in the decade between 1931 and 1941 that the civilian authorities in Tokyo mustered the energy, courage and ingenuity to overrule the military on a major peace issue they did so with fatal results — fatal for Japan, fatal for China, and for Konoe himself." Due to a trade imbalance , Japan had lost a large amount of its gold reserves by late 1937. Konoe believed that a new economic system geared toward exploitation of northern China's resources

10246-561: Was a strong critic of clan-based politics, which continued to dominate the political scene in Japan. In terms of foreign policy, Konoe was a central figure in the Pan-Asian Movement . He established a Pan-Asian political movement called the East Asia Common Culture Society ( 東亜同文会 , Toa Dobunkai ) which promoted mutual understanding and improvement in relations between Japan and China after

10355-415: Was abolished with the 1947 constitution , which prohibited any form of aristocracy under it, but kazoku descendants still form the core of the traditional upper class in the country's society, distinct from the nouveau riche . Kazoku ( 華族 ) should not be confused with "kazoku ( 家族 )" , which is pronounced the same in Japanese, but with a different character reading that means "immediate family" (as in

10464-511: Was also a member of Richard Sorge 's soviet spy ring. Nomura met with Roosevelt and told him about Konoe's summit proposal. After condemning Japanese aggression in Indochina, Roosevelt said he was open to the meeting, and suggested they could meet in Juneau, Alaska. On 3 September, a liaison conference was held where it was decided that Konoe would continue to seek peace with Roosevelt, but, at

10573-422: Was an attempt to bring the war hawk in line with Konoe. Higashikuni told Tojo that since the Emperor and Konoe favoured negotiation over war, the army minister should too, and that he should quit if he could not follow a policy of non-confrontation. Tojo replied that if the western encirclement of Japan were to be accepted, Japan would cease to exist. Tojo believed that even if there was only a small chance of winning

10682-646: Was bewildered. Kiichirō Hiranuma succeeded him as prime minister. Konoe was awarded the 1st class of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1939. Due to dissatisfaction with the policies of Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonai later that year, the Japanese Army demanded Konoe's return. Yonai had refused to align Japan with the Nazis; in response, the army minister Shunroku Hata resigned and the army refused to nominate

10791-424: Was convinced that Barbarossa would be a quick German victory, and he was now opposed to attacking Singapore because he believed it would provoke war with the western allies. After a series of liaison conferences where Matsuoka argued forcefully in favour of an attack against the Soviet Union and against further expansion southward, the decision was made to invade and occupy the southern half of French Indochina, which

10900-885: Was created a prince, and the head of the Mito shinpan house was raised to the same rank, prince, in 1929. Of the other former daimyō clans, the heads of the Mōri ( Chōshū Domain ) and Shimazu ( Satsuma Domain ) clans were both ennobled as princes in 1884 for their role in the Meiji Restoration; the Yamauchi ( Tosa Domain ) clan was given the rank of marquess. The heads of the main Asano ( Hiroshima Domain ), Ikeda ( Okayama and Tottori Domains ), Kuroda ( Fukuoka Domain ), Satake ( Kubota Domain ), Nabeshima ( Saga Domain ), Hachisuka ( Tokushima Domain ), Hosokawa ( Kumamoto Domain ) and Maeda ( Kaga Domain ) clans became marquesses in 1884. Notably,

11009-401: Was formalized in an imperial conference on 2 July. Included in this imperial conference resolution was a statement that Japan would not flinch from war with the U.S. and Britain if necessary. Beginning on 10 July, Konoe held a series of liaison conferences to discuss the Japanese response to Hull's latest amendment to the draft of understanding. It was decided that a reply would not be given until

11118-410: Was misled into thinking she was his real mother, and found out the truth when he was 12 years old after his father's death. Upon his father's death in 1912, Fumimaro not only inherited his father's aristocratic title of koshaku (duke or prince) but also his debt. Thanks to the financial support of the zaibatsu Sumitomo , which he received throughout his career, and the auction of Fujiwara heirlooms,

11227-402: Was no recognition of the Japanese right to control of Manchukuo. The new draft also completely rejected the Japanese right of military expansion in the Pacific. Hull included a statement that in summary said that as long as Japan was allied to Hitler an agreement would be next to impossible to achieve. He did not specifically mention Matsuoka, but it was implied that he would have to be removed, as

11336-480: Was standing down from continued aggressive action; these hopes were dashed when the French government, after being threatened with military action, allowed the Japanese army to occupy all of French Indochina on 22 July. Two days later, the U.S. cut off negotiations and froze Japanese assets, the British, Dutch, and Canadian governments following suit shortly thereafter. The same day Roosevelt met with Nomura, where he told

11445-455: Was that the foreign ministry's was conditioned on an agreement being reached between China and Japan before troops would be withdrawn. On 5 September, Konoe met the emperor with chiefs of staff General Hajime Sugiyama and Admiral Osami Nagano to inform him of the cabinet's decision to commit to war in the absence of a diplomatic breakthrough. Alarmed, the emperor asked what had happened to the negotiations with Roosevelt. He asked Konoe to change

11554-483: Was the seiyukai , led by Hara Takashi , which drew its strength from the lower house. Eventually the seiyukai was able to gain the Aritomo's support, and Hara Takashi became prime minister in 1918. Konoe believed the House of Peers should stay neutral in factional party politics, lest a partisan-seeming peerage have their privileges restricted. He therefore supported Takashi's seiyukai government, as did most of

11663-555: Was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan , which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords ( daimyō ) and court nobles ( kuge ) into one system modelled after the British peerage . Distinguished military officers, politicians, and scholars were occasionally ennobled until the country's defeat in the Second World War in 1945 (新華族, shin kazoku , lit. "the newly ennobled"). The system

11772-443: Was the only way to stop this economic deterioration. In response to continued U.S. support for the so-called Open Door Policy , Konoe rejected it "as he had since Versailles, but left open possible western interests in southern China." In a declaration on 3 November 1938 , Konoe said Japan sought a new order in east Asia, that Chiang no longer spoke for China, that Japan would reconstruct China without help from foreign powers, and that

11881-518: Was thereafter created to foster a moral sense of civic duty among the people, with the overall purpose of destroying the meiboka system. In 1925, Konoe and these officials formed the Alliance for a New Japan ( Shin Nippon Domei ), which endorsed the concept of representative government but rejected the value of party and local village bosses, instead advocating that new candidates from outside

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