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      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
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        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
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5 Unknown Facts of Prince Konoe

5/23/2022

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by Ren Ke
Picture
Prominent Konoe family
Prince Konoe, also known as Fumimaro Konoe, is one of the main branches of the ancient Fujiwara clan. Fumimaro Konoe was born in Tokyo on October 12, 1891, to the prominent Konoe family, one of the five regent houses. Prince Konoe is the eldest son of Duke Atsumaro Konoe. Thus, in1904 (Meiji 37), 12-year-old Fumaki Kanei inherited the title after the death of his father, Duke Konoe. 
In 1916 (5th year of Taisho), according to the Noble House Order and Prince Konoe's aristocratic status, he entered the House of Noble as a Duke Member and started his political career at the age of 25. 
Five Regent House? ​
The Five Regent Houses is a collective term for the five families of the main branches of the ancient Fujiwara clan. The five houses are Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Ichijō, and Nijō.  
The leaders of these families monopolized the position of Sekkan in the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto between the 12th and 19th century. They were the most politically powerful families among the kuge (court).
Prime Minister Konoe's First Declaration ​
​In June 1937, Prince Konoe became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet for the first time. During his tenure, he issued the three famous declarations. 
Prime Minister Konoe's First Declaration, the well-known statement of "not taking the Chinese national government as an opponent," was issued on January 16, 1938. "Afterwards, the imperial government will not use the national government as its opponent but expects the establishment and development of a new Chinese regime that can truly cooperate with the empire, and will adjust the relations between the two countries with this new regime." 
Before this statement, the Japanese army was advancing extremely fast in aggression in China and pursuing the policy of sukusen sokketsu 速戦即決, which translates to rapid warfare. The Japanese government even clamored to end the war in three months, and the Chinese National Government's capital Nanjing was broken on December 13, 1937. At that time, Japan was confident about its advantages in the war against China. At this time, Prince Konoe had no intention of a truce but attempted to ultimately defeat China. Under this circumstance, Prince Konoe made such a statement. However, from the perspective of historical development, this statement shackled the flexibility of the Japanese government's policy toward China. 
What happened in China before the National Government's capital Nanjing fell on December 13, 1937?
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident: also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident, was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident is generally reckoned as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The August 13 Incident: also known as the "Second Shanghai Incident," occurred on August 13, 1937. On August 14, the Chinese Nationalist Government issued the "Declaration of Self-Defense and Resistance," announcing that the 3-month-long Battle of Shanghai was officially launched. A total of 98,000 Japanese troops were killed and injured during the Battle of Shanghai. This incident manifested that the Japanese government's goal of succeeding in the occupation of China within three months failed. ​
Establishment of Taisei Yokusankai
Prince Konoe was one of the founders of Taisei Yokusankai(大政翼賛会). On July 22, 1940, Prince Konoe served as Prime Minister of Japan for the second time. As the first Japanese politician to publicly support Nazi Germany, on July 26, Konoe imitated the Nazi party model formed by Hitler and intended to dissolve other political parties in the name of the "Basic National Policy Outline." He then launched the "New System Movement," prompting Taisei Yokusankai to become a one-party dictatorship Fascist party. On September 27, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the "Triple Alliance Treaty" and formed the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis. 
The establishment of Taisei Yokusankai was to promote the "new system movement" of concentrated political power, dissolve the existing political parties into a national political organization, and rule Japan in a one-party dictatorship model. However, Taisei Yokusankai was dissolved in June 1945 and merged into the "Volunteer Fighting Corps" established in response to the decisive local battle, which disbanded after Japan surrendered. 
"Class-A War Criminal"
After Japan's surrender, Prince Konoe still had some hope of avoiding trials, feeling that if he had been ruling the country for many years, the Allied forces would have had to rely on him. Indeed, when the allied forces entered Japan, the Allied General Command asked him for many favors, but the trial of war criminals was on schedule as the situation stabilized. In 1945, the International Prosecutors Office (IPS) issued Prince Konoe an additional arrest warrant. When Konoe heard the news that he was about to be prosecuted, he committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide before being arrested on December 16, 1945, to avoid trial. Therefore, Prince Konoe was a Japanese "Class A War Criminal" in World War II. The quotation marks indicate that a court has not tried him. In this case, he is not legally but an inevitable war criminal in people's minds.
Grandfather of the Prime Minister
​Morihiro Hosokawa (細川護煕) is Prince Konoe's grandson. Hosokawa was born in 1938. He was the Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994, leading a coalition government that was Japan's first non-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government since 1955. However, Hosokawa only served as the prime minister for 8 months. In April 1994, the Hosokawa cabinet fell. Hosokawa joined the Democratic Party in 1998.
 Hosokawa has been, since 2005, the head of the Kumamoto-Hosokawa clan, one of the noble families of Japan.
Reference:
人民网. (n.d.). 八一三事变. 人民网. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083708/http://dangshi.people.com.cn/BIG5/165617/166495/168107/10002233.html. 
近卫文麻郎: 日本首相 - 政治、法律和政府: 七月 2021. gov. (n.d.). https://zh.gov-civ-guarda.pt/konoe-fumimaro. 
近衛声明. アジア歴史資料センター. (n.d.). https://www.jacar.go.jp/topicsfromjacar/02_persons/index02_006.html. 
Berger, G. (1974). Japan's Young Prince. Konoe Fumimaro's Early Political Career, 1916-1931. Monumenta Nipponica,29(4), 451-475. doi:10.2307/2383896​

Jansen, M. (1988). Journal of Japanese Studies, 14(2), 457-468. doi:10.2307/132617
Chen, F. (2019, January 9). 戰雲下厲行皇民化 台日文學社團相互較勁【民視台灣學堂】台灣新文學史 2019.1.10-陳芳明. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Q2PzZLu6Qmw. 
Facing, H. (n.d.). War criminals and aggressive war. Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/nanjing-atrocities/judgment-memory-legacy/war-criminals-and-aggressive-war. 
Lei, G. (2018, November 3). 抗战时期"近卫声明"的来龙去脉_日本政府. https://www.sohu.com/a/272848929_166075. 


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  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
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    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
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    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
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      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
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    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute