For the 76th Emperor also known as Emperor Konoe, see Emperor Konoe.
The native form of this personal name is Konoe Fumimaro. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
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Junior Second Rank Prince
Fumimaro Konoe
近衞 文麿
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 16 July 1940 – 18 October 1941
Monarch
Hirohito
Preceded by
Mitsumasa Yonai
Succeeded by
Hideki Tojo
In office 4 June 1937 – 5 January 1939
Monarch
Hirohito
Preceded by
Senjūrō Hayashi
Succeeded by
Kiichirō Hiranuma
Personal details
Born
(1891-10-12)12 October 1891 Tokyo, Empire of Japan
Died
16 December 1945(1945-12-16) (aged 54) Tekigai-sō, Tokyo, Allied-occupied Japan
Cause of death
Suicide by cyanide
Political party
Imperial Rule Assistance Association (1940–1945)
Other political affiliations
Independent (Before 1940)
Spouse
Konoe Chiyoko (1896–1980)
Parent(s)
Konoe Atsumaro Maeda Sawako
Education
First Higher School Tokyo Imperial University
Alma mater
Kyoto Imperial University
Signature
Japanese name
Kanji
近衞 文麿
Transcriptions
Romanization
Konoe Fumimaro
Part of a series on
Statism in Shōwa Japan
Organizations and factions
Imperial Rule Assistance Association
Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association
Yokusan Sonendan
National Spiritual Mobilization Movement
League of Diet Members Supporting the Prosecution of the Holy War
Great Japan Youth Party
Shōwa Kenkyūkai
Kōdōha
Young Officers Movement
Tōseiha
National Foundation Society
Black Ocean Society
Cherry Blossom Society
Japanese Committee on Trade and Information
Fleet faction
Yūzonsha
Events
March Incident
Mukden Incident
Withdrawal from the League of Nations
Imperial Colors Incident
League of Blood Incident
May 15 Incident
Military Academy Incident
Withdrawal from the Washington Naval Treaty
February 26 Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
State General Mobilization Law
Tripartite Pact
Formation of the Taisei Yokusankai
Appointment of Hideki Tojo
Pacific War
Kyūjō incident
Purge
Ideology
Fascism
Totalitarianism
Statism
Shintaisei
Kokutai
Yamato-damashii
Bushido
Gekokujō
Ultranationalism
Corporatism
State capitalism
Militarism
State Shinto
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Shōwa Restoration
Hakkō ichiu
Expansionism
Propaganda
Pan-Asianism
People
Fumimaro Konoe
Hideki Tojo
Sadao Araki
Ikki Kita
Shūmei Ōkawa
Nobusuke Kishi
Nisshō Inoue
Tanaka Chigaku
Masanobu Tsuji
Jinzaburō Masaki
Kuniaki Koiso
Hiranuma Kiichirō
Kanji Ishiwara
Kingoro Hashimoto
Atrocities
Mass killings
Nanjing Massacre
Sook Ching
Manila massacre
Bataan Death March
Hell ship
Sexual slavery
Use of chemical weapons
Human experimentation
Slavery
Use of biological weapons
Media and literature
Shinmin no Michi
How Japan Plans to Win
Momotaro: Sacred Sailors
Momotarō no Umiwashi
Moyuru ōzora
The Most Beautiful
"Ode of Showa Restoration"
Related
American cover-up of Japanese war crimes
International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Japanese history textbook controversies
Korean collaborators with Imperial Japan
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Prince Fumimaro Konoe (Japanese: 近衞 文麿, Hepburn: 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 the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. He also played a central role in transforming his country into a totalitarian state by passing the State General Mobilization Law and founding the Imperial Rule Assistance Association while dissolving all other political parties.
Born in Tokyo to a prominent aristocratic family, Konoe took up his father's seat in the House of Peers of the Imperial Diet in 1916. He was a member of the Japanese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. In 1933, Konoe assumed the presidency of the House of Peers. In 1937, on the recommendation of his mentor Saionji Kinmochi, Konoe was appointed prime minister by Emperor Hirohito. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident took place a month after his appointment and escalated into full-scale warfare. Konoe oversaw Japanese victories during the early phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War and pushed through the State General Mobilization Law, placing the country on war-time footing. Konoe resigned as prime minister 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. The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was founded later that year, while Japan concluded the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, launched an invasion of French Indochina and formally recognized Wang Jingwei's government in Nanjing. In 1941, Japan concluded the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. Despite Konoe's attempts to resolve tensions with the United States, the rigid timetable imposed on negotiations by the military and his own administration's inflexibility set Japan on the path to war. Politically isolated, Konoe resigned as prime minister in October 1941 and was replaced by Hideki Tojo. Six weeks later the Pacific War broke out following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
Konoe remained a close advisor to Hirohito until the end of World War II and played a key role in the fall of the Tōjō Cabinet in 1944. At the start of the Allied occupation of Japan, he served in the cabinet of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni. After coming under suspicion of war crimes, Konoe committed suicide in December 1945, aged 54, by ingesting cyanide.
Prince FumimaroKonoe (Japanese: 近衞 文麿, Hepburn: KonoeFumimaro, 12 October 1891 – 16 December 1945) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister...
minister of the army in the Japanese government led by Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe. On the eve of the Second World War's expansion into Asia and the Pacific...
Emperor Konoe (近衛天皇, 1139–1155), the 76th emperor of Japan Konoe Atsumaro (近衛 篤麿, 1863–1904), Japanese politician and journalist FumimaroKonoe (近衞 文麿...
Minister FumimaroKonoe, Fumitaka, died in the Soviet Union without a legitimate male heir. Fumitaka's wife subsequently adopted his nephew Tadateru Konoe, second...
The Konoe statements (Japanese: 近衛声明) refer to three diplomatic statements made by FumimaroKonoe's cabinets in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japan...
Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his Shintaisei ("New Order")...
Morihiro Hosokawa and adopted grandson (and heir) of former Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe. He is currently President of the Japanese Red Cross Society. They have...
of Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe and the great-grandfather of Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. After the Meiji Restoration, the Konoe family were devolved...
[38th KonoeFumimaro] (in Japanese). Official website of the Prime Minister of Japan. Retrieved 10 April 2023. 第39代 近衞 文麿 [39th KonoeFumimaro] (in Japanese)...
Yoshiko (温子), was the second daughter of FumimaroKonoe. As his maternal uncle Fumitaka Konoe (近衛文隆, Konoe Fumitaka) died childless in the Soviet Union...
the progress of the war. All but ex-Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe advised continuing the war. Konoe feared a communist revolution even more than defeat...
pre-war Japanese Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe. Konoye was born in Kōjimachi, Tokyo. He was the younger son of Duke Konoe Atsumaro, scion of one of the...
the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940 by Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe, Japan would turn to a form of government that resembled totalitarianism...
Fumitaka Konoe (近衛 文隆, Konoe Fumitaka, April 3, 1915 – October 29, 1956) was the eldest son and heir of Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe and the 13th-generation...
Konoe Cabinet may refer to: First Konoe Cabinet, the Japanese government led by FumimaroKonoe from 1937 to 1939 Second Konoe Cabinet, the Japanese government...
Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). FumimaroKonoe was prime minister from 1937 to 1939 and 1940 until 1941. Konoe authorized the publications of Kokutai...
GHQ General MacArthur's word to FumimaroKonoe. After an unsuccessful first visit on 13 September 1945, FumimaroKonoe paid another visit to MacArthur...
outgoing Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe proposed Prince Higashikuni to Emperor Shōwa as his successor for prime minister. Konoe believed that only a member...
in 1937. He served in the same position under the subsequent first FumimaroKonoe and Kiichirō Hiranuma administrations, through August 1939. After Nobuyuki...
of the war, allying himself with Prince FumimaroKonoe. Right before the Pacific War began, Yoshida joined Konoe in unsuccessfully attempting to deescalate...
Higashikuni, his nephew Prince Takamatsu, and former Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe (1895–1945) to oust the Hideki Tojo cabinet. Supreme Commander of the...
Japan in 1937, and served as Minister of Finance under Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe from 1937 to 1939. In 1941, he was made a member of the Imperial Privy...
political reputation and influence even until the 20th century (such as FumimaroKonoe and Morihiro Hosokawa, who became the Prime Ministers). As such, they...
and remained in that position under the succeeding Prime Minister, FumimaroKonoe. During his tenure, tensions between Japanese forces and the Chinese...
communist, Soviet intelligence agent, and advisor to Prime Minister FumimaroKonoe. The only Japanese person to be hanged for treason (under the provisions...
Restoration Hakkō ichiu Expansionism Propaganda Pan-Asianism People FumimaroKonoe Hideki Tojo Sadao Araki Ikki Kita Shūmei Ōkawa Nobusuke Kishi Nisshō...