Yōsuke Matsuoka: Difference between revisions
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Despite the military's opposition to his ideas, Matsuoka continued to loudly advocate an invasion of Russia and became increasingly reckless in his diplomatic dealings with the [[United States]], which he believed was conspiring to provoke Japan into a war. Matsuoka's hostility towards the U.S. (a vocal opponent of Japan's military campaigns) alarmed Konoe, who wanted to avoid war with the United States. Konoe and the military hierarchy colluded to get rid of Matsuoka. To this end, Konoe resigned in July 1941 and his cabinet ministers resigned with him, including Matsuoka. Konoe immediately was made prime minister again, and replaced Matsuoka as Foreign Minister with Admiral [[Teijirō Toyoda]]. |
Despite the military's opposition to his ideas, Matsuoka continued to loudly advocate an invasion of Russia and became increasingly reckless in his diplomatic dealings with the [[United States]], which he believed was conspiring to provoke Japan into a war. Matsuoka's hostility towards the U.S. (a vocal opponent of Japan's military campaigns) alarmed Konoe, who wanted to avoid war with the United States. Konoe and the military hierarchy colluded to get rid of Matsuoka. To this end, Konoe resigned in July 1941 and his cabinet ministers resigned with him, including Matsuoka. Konoe immediately was made prime minister again, and replaced Matsuoka as Foreign Minister with Admiral [[Teijirō Toyoda]]. |
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On December 31, 1940, [[Yōsuke Matsuoka]], told a group of Jewish businessmen: |
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{{quote|"I am the man responsible for the alliance with Hitler, but nowhere have I promised that we would carry out his anti-Semitic policies in Japan. This is not simply my personal opinion, it is the opinion of Japan, and I have no compunction about announcing it to the world."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl425.htm |title="The Jews of Japan" by Daniel Ari Kapner and Stephen Levine |publisher=Jcpa.org |date= |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref>}} |
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Matsuoka subsequently drifted into obscurity. Captured by the [[Allies]] in 1945 and brought up on [[war crimes]] charges by the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]], the former Oregon resident died in 1946 before his trial was completed. |
Matsuoka subsequently drifted into obscurity. Captured by the [[Allies]] in 1945 and brought up on [[war crimes]] charges by the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]], the former Oregon resident died in 1946 before his trial was completed. |
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Revision as of 15:04, 26 October 2010
Yōsuke Matsuoka 松岡 洋右 | |
|---|---|
 Matsuoka Yōsuke | |
| Born | March 3, 1880 |
| Died | June 26, 1946 (aged 66) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Other names | "Frank" |
| Occupation(s) | Diplomat, Cabinet Minister |
Yōsuke "Frank" Matsuoka (松岡 洋右, Matsuoka Yōsuke, March 3, 1880 – June 26, 1946) was a Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in 1933 and his subsequent work in Manchuria. He studied in the United States and graduated from the University of Oregon with a law degree. He was later appointed to the position as of First Secretary to the Embassy of Japan in Washington. Eventually he became the President of the South Manchurian Railway Company.[1]
Early years in Japan and America
Born in what is now part of the city of Hikari in Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan, Matsuoka traveled to the United States with a cousin in 1893, and settled in Portland, Oregon. He lived at first at the Methodist Mission, then was taken in at the household of the widower William Dunbar, which included Dunbar's son Lambert, and Dunbar's sister, Mrs. Isabelle Dunbar Beveridge. Mrs. Beveridge served as a foster mother to Matsuoka and helped him adjust to American society. Matsuoka's affection for her lasted well after he returned to Japan. She died in 1906.[2][3]
Matsuoka enrolled at Portland's Atkinson Grammar School (which still exists as Atkinson Elementary School), was raised as a Christian by the Dunbar family, [4] and took on the name of Frank Matsuoka. He moved to Oakland, California, with his older brother Kensuke attended Oakland High School for 18 months in Oakland, California, then returned to Portland and studied law, paying his way by various odd jobs, including busboy, door-to-door salesman (of coffee) and interpreter for a Japanese contractor.[5] Matsuoka graduated from the University of Oregon law school in 1900. During his time in America he was a fervent Christian who attended Bible sessions at his high school and claimed to have met the American Populist William Jennings Bryan.
Foreign Service
Matsuoka returned to Japan in 1902. He passed Japan's foreign service examinations and joined the foreign service, and within two years was vice-consul at the consulate in Shanghai, China. Over the next 18 years he advanced quickly through the ranks of diplomats.
Matsuoka gained international notoriety in 1933 when he announced Japan's departure from the League of Nations after the League’s criticism of Japan's operations in Manchuria, and led the Japanese delegation out of the League's assembly hall.[6][7] After leaving the foreign service, Matsuoka went to Manchukuo and became President of the South Manchurian Railroad, at which time he worked closely with Hideki Tōjō (then serving as chief of the Kempeitai of the Kwantung Army).
Foreign Minister of Japan, 1940-41
In 1940, Matsuoka became Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, strongly opposed by Kiichiro Hiranuma. Matsuoka was a major advocate of a Japanese alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, whose assistance he saw as a perfect balancing force against the United States, and as such was one of the primary orchestrators of the Tripartite Pact in 1940.
On December 31, 1940, Yosuke told a group of Jewish businessmen that he was "the man responsible for the alliance with Hitler, but nowhere have I promised that we would carry out his anti-Semitic policies in Japan. This is not simply my personal opinion, it is the opinion of Japan, and I have no compunction about announcing it to the world."[8]
During March-April 1941 he visited Moscow and Berlin. On March 29, 1941, at a conversation with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister told him about the German preparations to invade the Soviet Union and tried to convince him to urge the government in Tokyo to attack Singapore, claiming the British navy was too weak to retaliate due to its involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic. Matsuoka responded to this by stating preparations to occupy Singapore were under way.[9]
Matsuoka also signed a Russo-Japanese non-aggression treaty during his visit to Moscow in April 1941. However, after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Hitler proposed to Matsuoka that Japan take part in the attack as well. Matsuoka became a fervent supporter of the idea of a Japanese attack on Russian lands, and constantly pressured Konoe and the leaders of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy to mobilize the military for that purpose. In the end, both the army and the navy as well as Konoe decided to concentrate military efforts on targets south of Japan.
Despite the military's opposition to his ideas, Matsuoka continued to loudly advocate an invasion of Russia and became increasingly reckless in his diplomatic dealings with the United States, which he believed was conspiring to provoke Japan into a war. Matsuoka's hostility towards the U.S. (a vocal opponent of Japan's military campaigns) alarmed Konoe, who wanted to avoid war with the United States. Konoe and the military hierarchy colluded to get rid of Matsuoka. To this end, Konoe resigned in July 1941 and his cabinet ministers resigned with him, including Matsuoka. Konoe immediately was made prime minister again, and replaced Matsuoka as Foreign Minister with Admiral Teijirō Toyoda.
On December 31, 1940, Yōsuke Matsuoka, told a group of Jewish businessmen:
"I am the man responsible for the alliance with Hitler, but nowhere have I promised that we would carry out his anti-Semitic policies in Japan. This is not simply my personal opinion, it is the opinion of Japan, and I have no compunction about announcing it to the world."[10]
Matsuoka subsequently drifted into obscurity. Captured by the Allies in 1945 and brought up on war crimes charges by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the former Oregon resident died in 1946 before his trial was completed.
South Manchurian Railway
Two years after Imperial Japan's departure from the League of Nations in 1933, Matsuoka became the president of the South Manchurian Railroad Company from 1935 until 1939.
Timeline
-1900: Graduated from the University of Oregon[11]
-1914: First Secretary of Embassy in Washington
-1922: Became the director of the South Manchurian Railway Company
-1927: Became Vice-President of the South Manchurian Railway Company
-1930: Elected a member of the Lower House of the Japanese Diet
-1932: Sent to Geneva as the chief Japanese delegate with regard to the Manchurian situation
-1935: Became President of the South Manchurian Railway Company[12]
-1945: Arrested and charged with war crimes, but died before trial[13]
References
- ^ Yusuke Matsuika, Japan Manchukeo Yearbook, 1938
- ^ "Matsuoka Honors Woman Kind to Him," Nevada State Journal, April 10, 1933, p2. - "In 1933, after Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations in Geneva, Matsuoka stopped in Portland on his way back to Japan, and placed a marker at Mrs. Beveridge's gravesite, with an inscription that read, "Raised by the loving hands of Yosuke Matsuoka, in token of the lasting gratitude for the sympathy and gentle kindness of a woman who, next to his mother, shaped his mind and character."
- ^ David Jon Lu, Agony of Choice: Matsuoka Yosuke and the Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1880-1946 (Lexington Books, 2002), pp. 6-7
- ^ Current Biography 1941, p563-65
- ^ Id. at 564
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bwdZvjJlMg&feature=player_embedded
- ^ Chen, C. Peter. "Yosuke Matsuoka | World War II Database." World War II Database: Your WW2 History Reference Destination. Web. 27 May 2010. <http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=261>.
- ^ http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl425.htm
- ^ Trial of German Major War Criminals, vol. 3, pp. 379-380.
- ^ ""The Jews of Japan" by Daniel Ari Kapner and Stephen Levine". Jcpa.org. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Yosuke Matsuoka." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 27 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmatsuoka.htm>.
- ^ Yusuke Matsuika, Japan Manchukeo Yearbook, 1938
- ^ "Yosuke Matsuoka." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 27 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmatsuoka.htm>.
Further reading
- Lu, David, Agony of Choice: Matsuoka Yōsuke and the Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire (Lexington Books, 2002)
External links
- Matsuoka biography From Spartacus Educational