Ministry of War of Japan

HQ building of the Imperial Japanese Army, Tokyo, from 1937-1945

The Army Ministry of Japan (陸軍省, Rikugunshō^?), more popularly known as the Ministry of War of Japan, was cabinet-level ministry in the Empire of Japan charged with the administrative affairs of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). It existed from 1872 to 1945.

History

The Army Ministry was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of the Military (兵部省, Hyōbushō^?) of the early Meiji government.

Initially, the Army Ministry was in charge of both administration and operational command of the Imperial Japanese Army. However, with the creation of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff in December 1878, it was left with only administrative functions. Its primary role was to secure the army budget, weapons procurement, personnel, relations with the Diet of Japan and the Cabinet and broad matters of military policy.

The post of Army Minister was politically powerful. Although a member of the Cabinet after the establishment of the cabinet system of government in 1885, the Army Minister was answerable directly to the Emperor (the commander-in-chief of all Japanese armed forces under the Meiji Constitution) and not the Prime Minister.

The post of Army Minister was usually filled by an active-duty general in the Imperial Japanese Army. This practice was made into law under the "Military Ministers to be Active-Duty Officers Law" (軍部大臣現役武官制, Gumbu daijin gen'eki bukan sei^?) in 1900 by Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo to curb the influence of political parties into military affairs. Abolished in 1913 under the administration of Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, the law was revived again in 1936 at the insistence of the Army General Staff by Prime Minister Hirota Kōki. The ability of the Imperial Japanese Army to refuse to nominate an Army Minister gave it effective veto power over the formation (or continuation) of any civilian administration, and was a key factor in the erosion of representative democracy and the rise of Japanese militarism.

After 1937, both the Army Minister and the Chief of the Army General Staff were members of the Imperial General Headquarters.

With the defeat of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Army Ministry was abolished together with the Imperial Japanese Army by the American occupation authorities in November 1945 and was not revived in the post-war Constitution of Japan.

Organization

• Under-Secretary of the Army (Vice Minister)
  • Military Affairs Bureau
  • Personnel Bureau
  • Weapons Bureau
  • Army Service Bureau
  • Administration Bureau
  • Intendance (Accounts and Supply)
  • Medical
  • Judicial Bureau
  • Economic Mobilization Bureau
  • Aeronautical Department
  • Economic Mobilization (abolished in April 1945)

The Army Ministry and Imperial General Headquarters were located was located in Ichigaya Heights, in which is now part of Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Imperial Japanese Military

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Ministers of Army of Japan

	Name	Cabinet	From	To
1	Ōyama Iwao	1st Itō	22 December 1885	30 April 1888
2	Ōyama Iwao	Kuroda	30 April 1888	24 December 1889
3	Ōyama Iwao	1st Yamagata	24 December 1889	6 May 1891
4	Ōyama Iwao	1st Matsukata	6 May 1891	17 May 1891
5	Takashima Tomonosuke	1st Matsukata	17 May 1891	8 August 1892
6	Ōyama Iwao	2nd Itō	8 August 1892	18 September 1896
7	Ōyama Iwao	2nd Matsukata	18 September 1896	20 September 1896
8	Takashima Tomonosuke	2nd Matsukata	20 September 1896	12 January 1898
9	Katsura Tarō	3rd Itō	12 January 1898	30 June 1898
10	Katsura Tarō	1st Ōkuma	30 June 1898	8 November 1898
11	Katsura Tarō	2nd Yamagata	8 November 1898	19 October 1900
12	Katsura Tarō	4th Itō	19 October 1900	23 December 1900
13	Kodama Gentarō	4th Itō	23 December 1900	2 June 1901
14	Kodama Gentarō	1st Katsura	2 June 1901	27 March 1902
15	Terauchi Masatake	1st Katsura	27 March 1902	7 January 1906
16	Terauchi Masatake	1st Saionji	7 January 1906	14 July 1908
17	Terauchi Masatake	2nd Katsura	14 July 1908	30 August 1911
18	Ishimoto Shinroku	2nd Saionji	30 August 1911	2 April 1912
19	Uehara Yūsaku	2nd Saionji	5 April 1912	21 December 1912
20	Kigoshi Yasutsuna	3rd Katsura	21 December 1912	20 February 1913
21	Kigoshi Yasutsuna	1st Yamamoto	20 February 1913	24 June 1913
22	Kusunose Yukihiko	1st Yamamoto	24 June 1913	16 April 1914
23	Oka Ichinosuke	2nd Ōkuma	16 April 1914	30 March 1916
24	Ōshima Ken'ichi	2nd Ōkuma	30 March 1916	9 October 1916
25	Ōshima Ken'ichi	Terauchi	9 October 1916	29 September 1918
26	Tanaka Giichi	Hara	29 September 1918	9 June 1921
27	Yamanashi Hanzō	Hara	9 June 1921	13 November 1921
28	Yamanashi Hanzō	Takahashi	13 November 1921	12 June 1922
29	Yamanashi Hanzō	Katō	12 June 1922	2 September 1923
30	Tanaka Giichi	2nd Yamamoto	2 September 1923	7 January 1924
31	Ugaki Kazushige	Kiyoura	7 January 1924	11 June 1924
32	Ugaki Kazushige	Katō	11 June 1924	30 January 1926
33	Ugaki Kazushige	1st Wakatsuki	30 January 1926	20 April 1927
34	Shirakawa Yoshinori	1st Tanaka	20 April 1927	2 July 1929
35	Ugaki Kazushige	Hamaguchi	2 July 1929	14 April 1931
36	Minami Jirō	2nd Wakatsuki	14 April 1931	13 December 1931
37	Araki Sadao	Inukai	13 December 1931	26 May 1932
38	Araki Sadao	Saitō	26 May 1932	23 January 1934
39	Hayashi Senjūrō	Saitō	23 January 1934	8 July 1934
40	Hayashi Senjūrō	Okada	8 July 1934	5 September 1935
41	Kawashima Yoshiyuki	Okada	5 September 1935	9 March 1936
42	Terauchi Hisaichi	Hirota	9 March 1936	2 February 1937
43	Nakamura Kōtarō	Hayashi	2 February 1937	9 February 1937
44	Sugiyama Hajime	Hayashi	9 February 1937	4 June 1937
45	Sugiyama Hajime	1st Konoe	4 June 1937	3 June 1938
46	Itagaki Seishirō	1st Konoe	3 June 1937	5 January 1939
47	Itagaki Seishirō	1st Hiranuma	5 January 1939	30 August 1939
48	Hata Shunroku	Abe	30 August 1939	16 January 1940
49	Hata Shunroku	Yonai	16 January 1940	22 July 1940
50	Tōjō Hideki	2nd Konoe	22 July 1940	18 July 1941
51	Tōjō Hideki	3rd Konoe	18 July 1941	18 October 1941
52	Tōjō Hideki	Tōjō	18 October 1941	22 July 1944
53	Sugiyama Hajime	Koiso	22 July 1944	7 April 1945
54	Anami Korechika	Suzuki	7 April 1945	14 August 1945
55	Higashikuni Naruhiko	Higashikuni	17 August 1945	23 August 1945
56	Shimomura Sadamu	Higashikuni	23 August 1945	9 October 1945
57	Shimomura Sadamu	Shidehara	9 October 1945	1 December 1945

References

• Edgerton, Robert B. (1999). Warriors of the Rising Sun: A History of the Japanese Military. Westview Press. ISBN 0813336007. 
• Harries, Meirion (1994). Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Random House. ISBN 0679753036. 
• "Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East". Adam Matthew Publications. Accessed 2 March 2005.