Army Ministry
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Japanese_Army_HQ_Ichigaya.jpg/300px-Japanese_Army_HQ_Ichigaya.jpg)
The Army Ministry of Japan (陸軍省, Rikugunshō), more popularly known as the Ministry of War of Japan, was the department in the Government of Japan charged with the administration 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 Military Affairs (Hyōbushō) of the early Meiji government of Japan.
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 Gonnohyoe, the law was revived again in 1936 at the insistence of the Army General Staff by Prime Minister Hirota Kōki. The ability of the Army to refuse to nominate an Army Minister gave it effective veto power over the formation of any civilian administration, and was a key factor in the erosion of representative democracy and the rise of Japanese militarism.
The Ministry was abolished in December 1945 after the end of World War II during the American Occupation 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 Armed Forces |
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Administration |
![]() (Dai Nippon Teikoku Rikugun) |
![]() (Dai Nippon Teikoku Kaigun) |
Rank insignia |
History |
Ministers of Army of Japan
# | Dates | Name | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 December 1885 | 17 May 1891 | Ōyama Iwao |
2 | 17 May 1891 | 8 August 1892 | Takashima Tomonosuke |
3 | 8 August 1892 | 31 August 1896 | Ōyama Iwao |
4 | 31 August 1896 | 18 September 1896 | Saigō Tsugumichi |
5 | 18 September 1896 | 20 September 1896 | Ōyama Iwao |
6 | 20 September 1896 | 12 January 1898 | Takashima Tomonosuke |
7 | 12 January 1898 | 23 December 1900 | Katsura Tarō |
8 | 23 December 1900 | 27 March 1902 | Kodama Gentarō |
9 | 27 March 1902 | 30 August 1911 | Terauchi Masatake |
10 | 30 August 1911 | 2 April 1912 | Ishimoto Shinroku |
11 | 5 April 1912 | 21 December 1912 | Uehara Yūsaku |
12 | 21 December 1912 | 24 June 1913 | Kigoshi Yasutsuna |
13 | 24 June 1913 | 16 April 1914 | Kusunose Yukihiko |
14 | 16 April 1914 | 30 March 1916 | Oka Ichinosuke |
15 | 30 March 1916 | 29 September 1918 | Ōshima Ken'ichi |
16 | 29 September 1918 | 9 June 1921 | Tanaka Giichi |
17 | 9 June 1921 | 24 August 1923 | Yamanashi Hanzō |
18 | 24 August 1923 | 2 September 1923 | Tanaka Giichi |
19 | 2 September 1923 | 20 April 1927 | Ugaki Kazushige |
20 | 20 April 1927 | 2 July 1929 | Shirakawa Yoshinori |
21 | 2 July 1929 | 14 April 1931 | Ugaki Kazushige |
22 | 14 April 1931 | 13 December 1931 | Minami Jirō |
23 | 13 December 1931 | 23 January 1934 | Araki Sadao |
24 | 23 January 1934 | 5 September 1935 | Hayashi Senjūrō |
25 | 5 September 1935 | 9 March 1936 | Kawashima Yoshiyuki |
26 | 9 March 1936 | 2 February 1937 | Terauchi Hisaichi |
27 | 2 February 1937 | 9 February 1937 | Nakamura Kōtarō |
28 | 9 February 1937 | 3 June 1938 | Sugiyama Hajime |
29 | 3 June 1938 | 30 August 1939 | Itagaki Seishirō |
30 | 30 August 1939 | 22 July 1940 | Hata Shunroku |
31 | 22 July 1940 | 22 July 1944 | Tōjō Hideki |
32 | 22 July 1944 | 7 April 1945 | Sugiyama Hajime |
33 | 7 April 1945 | 14 August 1945 | Anami Korechika |
34 | 17 August 1945 | 23 August 1945 | Higashikuni Naruhiko |
35 | 23 August 1945 | 1 December 1945 | Shimomura Sadamu |
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.