Nobuyuki Abe

Army officer and politician. Born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. 9th class of the Army Academy. After graduating from the Army War College, he served in the Russo-Japanese War and the Siberian Expedition. He held important positions in the General Staff and the Ministry of the Army. He became Chief of Martial Law Staff during the Great Kanto Earthquake. He belonged to the Ugaki faction and served as a representative for Army Minister Ugaki Kazushige in the Hamaguchi Osachi cabinet, but took a middle-ground position after Ugaki's retirement. In 1933 (Showa 8), he became a general. During the February 26 Incident in 1936, as a military councilor, he showed an attitude in favor of the rebel officers. In March of the same year, he was placed in the reserves. In August 1939, he formed a cabinet. He advocated an early resolution to the Sino-Japanese War and non-intervention in the European war, but he revealed his weakness by failing to establish a Ministry of Trade, lost the support of the military, and resigned after five months. He served as a special ambassador to China in 1940, an imperially appointed member of the House of Peers in 1942, president of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and governor-general of Korea in 1944. After Japan's defeat in the war, he was named a war criminal but was not indicted. Admiral Inoue Shigeyoshi was his brother-in-law.

[Yuji Odabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陸軍軍人、政治家。石川県金沢生まれ。陸軍士官学校9期。陸軍大学校卒業後、日露戦争、シベリア出兵に従軍。参謀本部や陸軍省の要職を歴任。関東大震災のとき戒厳参謀長となる。宇垣閥に属し、浜口雄幸(はまぐちおさち)内閣では宇垣一成(うがきかずしげ)陸相の代理を務めたが、宇垣退役後は中間的立場をとった。1933年（昭和8）大将。1936年の二・二六事件では軍事参議官として決起将校寄りの態度をみせた。同年3月予備役。1939年8月組閣。日中戦争の早期解決、欧州大戦不介入を掲げたが、貿易省設置の失敗など弱体ぶりをさらけ出し、軍部の支持も失って5か月で総辞職した。1940年中国特派大使、1942年貴族院勅選議員、翼賛政治会総裁、1944年朝鮮総督などを歴任。敗戦後戦犯に指名されたが不起訴となる。海軍大将井上成美(いのうえしげよし)は義弟。

［小田部雄次］

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