en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideki_Tojo
3 corrections found
Tojo continued to hold the position of army minister during his term as prime minister from 17 October 1941, to 22 July 1944.
The start date here is off by one day. Official Japanese government and archival sources place Tojo’s premiership and concurrent service in his new cabinet beginning on October 18, 1941, not October 17.
Full reasoning
Official Japanese sources distinguish between October 17, 1941—when Tojo was designated/ordered to form a cabinet—and October 18, 1941—when the Tojo Cabinet was actually established and his term in office began.
The Prime Minister’s Office of Japan lists Tojo’s term in office as October 18, 1941 – July 22, 1944. The Japan Center for Asian Historical Records likewise states that on October 18, 1941 the Hideki Tojo Cabinet was established, and that Tojo became Prime Minister, Army Minister, and Home Minister then.
So the sentence is incorrect in giving 17 October 1941 as the start of his term as prime minister/army minister in that cabinet. The correct start date is 18 October 1941.
2 sources
- 40th TOJO Hideki | Previous Prime Ministers | Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet
Term in office: October 18, 1941 - July 22, 1944
- The US-Japan War Talks as seen in official documents
October 18, 1941 Hideki Tojo forms cabinet... On Sunday, October 18, 1941... Tojo becomes Prime Minister, Army Minister, and Home Minister... On October 18th 1941, the Hideki Tojo cabinet was established.
On 30 July 1940, Tojo was appointed army minister in the second Fumimaro Konoe regime and remained in that post in the third Konoe cabinet.
This date is wrong. Official Japanese archival sources show the second Konoe Cabinet was inaugurated on July 22, 1940, with Hideki Tojo taking office as Minister of War that same day.
Full reasoning
Japanese archival sources place Tojo’s appointment as Army/War Minister in the second Konoe Cabinet on July 22, 1940, not July 30.
The Japan Center for Asian Historical Records states that the second Konoe Cabinet was inaugurated on July 22, 1940 and that it included Hideki Tojo as Minister of War. A separate JACAR timeline page likewise says the second Fumimaro Konoe Cabinet was established on July 22, 1940.
So this sentence’s specific appointment date of 30 July 1940 is incorrect.
2 sources
- The US-Japan War Talks as seen in official documents
With the rapidly changing state of global affairs... the second Konoe Cabinet was inaugurated on July 22, 1940... Yosuke Matsuoka assumed office... along with Hideki Tojo as Minister of War.
- Timeline - A Window into the Early Showa Period
The second Fumimaro Konoe Cabinet was established on July 22, 1940.
after 72,000 Japanese soldiers had been killed in battle. A similar number had starved to death or died of diseases as the logistics to support an invasion of India were lacking, once the monsoons turned the roads of Burma into impassable mud. Of the 150,000 Japanese soldiers who had participated in the March invasion of India, most were dead by July 1944.
These casualty figures are greatly overstated. Standard histories of Imphal–Kohima put the Japanese force at about 85,000, with roughly 53,000 dead or missing total—not 72,000 killed in battle plus a similar number dead from starvation and disease.
Full reasoning
The numbers in this passage do not match established accounts of the Imphal–Kohima campaign.
The National Army Museum says the Japanese Fifteenth Army was 85,000 strong and eventually lost 53,000 dead and missing in total. That already contradicts the article’s claim that 72,000 were killed in battle and that a similar number died of starvation or disease—a total that would exceed 140,000 dead, far above the force size given by standard histories.
A second summary from The Nippon Foundation, describing the same campaign, states that the Japanese force comprised 85,000 troops, of whom 30,000 were killed in battle and close to 40,000 more died of starvation and disease during their retreat. That is still catastrophic, but it is not the same as 72,000 battle deaths plus another similar number of non-battle deaths.
So this passage substantially overstates the losses and misstates the nature of the casualties.
2 sources
- Battles of Imphal and Kohima | National Army Museum
The Japanese Fifteenth Army, 85,000-strong, eventually lost 53,000 dead and missing.
- Passing On the Memory of a "Reckless Operation" to Future Generations | The Nippon Foundation
three divisions of the former Japanese army, comprising 85,000 troops, had 30,000 killed in the battle and close to 40,000 more die of starvation and disease during their retreat