Mamoru Shigemitsu
Mamoru Shigemitsu was born in what is now part of the city of Bungo-ōno, located within Oita Prefecture. He graduated from the Law School of Tokyo Imperial University in 1911 and immediately entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After World War I, he served in numerous overseas diplomatic assignments including Germany and the United Kingdom. He also worked briefly as consul at the Japanese consulate in Seattle, Washington. These early postings laid the groundwork for his future career in international relations.
On the 29th of April 1932, while attending a celebration for the birthday of Emperor Hirohito in Shanghai, a Korean independence activist named Yoon Bong-Gil threw a bomb at a reviewing stand. The explosion killed General Yoshinori Shirakawa and wounded several others, including Shigemitsu. Shigemitsu lost his right leg in the attack and walked with an artificial leg and cane for the rest of his life. This event marked a turning point in his physical condition and public image during the pre-war period.
Shigemitsu was highly critical of the foreign policies of Yosuke Matsuoka, especially the Tripartite Pact. He warned that this pact would further strengthen anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States. Shigemitsu spent two weeks in Washington DC on his way back from Britain and conferred with Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura to attempt direct face-to-face negotiations between Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and US President Franklin D Roosevelt. His many attempts to stave off World War II angered the militarists in Tokyo. Only two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was sidelined with an appointment as ambassador to the Japanese-sponsored Reorganized National Government of China.
Despite Shigemitsu's well-known opposition to the war, at the insistence of the Soviet Union, he was taken into custody by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. He was held in Sugamo Prison as an accused war criminal. Despite a signed deposition by Joseph Grew, the former ambassador of the United States to Japan, over the protests of Joseph B Keenan, the chief prosecutor, Shigemitsu and his case came to trial.
He was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for waging an aggressive war and for not doing enough to protect prisoners-of-war from inhumane treatment. However, the tribunal was extremely lenient on the grounds that Shigemitsu had regularly opposed Japanese militarism and protested the POWs' inhumane treatment. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, the lightest punishment handed down to anyone convicted at the trial. He was paroled in 1950.
After the end of the occupation of Japan, Shigemitsu formed a short-lived political party called Kaishinto which merged with the Japan Democratic Party in 1954. In October 1952, he was elected to a seat in the Lower House of the Diet of Japan. In 1954, he became Deputy Prime Minister of Japan under Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, the leader of the Japan Democratic Party. The cabinet continued after the merger of
the party and the Liberal Party as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1955. Shigemitsu continued to hold the post of Deputy Prime Minister until 1956. He concurrently served as Foreign Minister from 1954 to 1956.
In April 1955, Shigemitsu represented Japan at the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia, marking the beginning of Japan's return to participating in international conferences since the League of Nations. Then in August, Shigemitsu led a high-level Japanese delegation to the United States to press for revision of the US-Japan Security Treaty. This effort met with a cold reception from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles who had been the treaty's primary
architect. Dulles told Shigemitsu that any discussion of treaty revision was premature because Japan lacked unity and capacity to operate under a new arrangement. The following year, Shigemitsu addressed the United Nations General Assembly pledging Japan's support of its founding principles and formally applying for membership. Japan became the UN's 80th member on the 18th of December 1956. Shigemitsu also traveled to Moscow in 1956 in an attempt to normalize diplomatic relations and resolve the Kuril Islands dispute. The visit resulted in the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. In January 1957, a year after his visit to the Soviet Union, Shigemitsu died of myocardial infarction at age 69 in his summer home in Yugawara, Kanagawa.
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Common questions
Where was Mamoru Shigemitsu born and what university did he attend?
Mamoru Shigemitsu was born in what is now part of the city of Bungo-ōno, located within Oita Prefecture. He graduated from the Law School of Tokyo Imperial University in 1911.
How did Mamoru Shigemitsu lose his right leg during World War II?
On the 29th of April 1932, a Korean independence activist named Yoon Bong-Gil threw a bomb at a reviewing stand in Shanghai where Mamoru Shigemitsu was attending a celebration for the birthday of Emperor Hirohito. The explosion killed General Yoshinori Shirakawa and wounded several others including Mamoru Shigemitsu who lost his right leg in the attack.
What sentence did Mamoru Shigemitsu receive after being convicted as an accused war criminal?
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentenced Mamoru Shigemitsu to seven years in prison which was the lightest punishment handed down to anyone convicted at the trial. He was paroled in 1950 despite protests from chief prosecutor Joseph B Keenan regarding his conviction for waging an aggressive war.
When did Mamoru Shigemitsu serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan?
Mamoru Shigemitsu became Deputy Prime Minister of Japan under Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama in 1954 and concurrently served as Foreign Minister from 1954 to 1956. He continued to hold these posts until 1956 when he stepped down following the merger of parties into the Liberal Democratic Party.
How did Mamoru Shigemitsu die and what diplomatic achievements occurred before his death?
Mamoru Shigemitsu died of myocardial infarction at age 69 on January 1957 in his summer home in Yugawara, Kanagawa. Before his death he secured Japan's membership in the United Nations on the 18th of December 1956 and negotiated the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956.