Ministry of Greater East Asia

Following the expansion of the occupied territories during the Pacific War, this administrative agency was established on November 1, 1942 (Showa 17) under the Tojo Hideki Cabinet with the goal of mobilizing the full strength of the "Greater East Asia regions" for the war effort. It was established by abolishing and integrating the Manchuria Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Colonization, the East Asia Development Board, the East Asia Development Board Liaison Department, the East Asia Bureau and the South Seas Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and aimed to unify administration in the occupied territories of Manchuria, China, and Southeast Asia. In addition to the Minister's Secretariat, it had four bureaus: the General Affairs Bureau, the Manchuria Bureau, the China Bureau, and the Southern Affairs Bureau, the jurisdiction of which included Thailand and Indochina. Local institutions within the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," such as the Greater East Asia Ministry, came under the direct control of the Ministry of Greater East Asia. Its affiliated offices included the East Asia Training Institute and the East Asia Training Institute, and the Greater East Asia Ministry Liaison Committee was established as a liaison organization between the various government offices involved. Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori resigned in opposition to the establishment of the ministry, as it would reduce the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the ministry was established under pressure from the military. Aoki Kazuo became the first Minister of Greater East Asia. The ministry was abolished on August 25, 1945, during the administration of Higashikuni Naruhiko.

[Hideo Kobayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

太平洋戦争による占領地域の拡大に伴い、「大東亜諸地域」の総力を戦争に動員することを目的に、1942年（昭和17）11月1日東条英機(とうじょうひでき)内閣のもとで設置された行政機関。拓務省の対満事務局、興亜院、興亜院連絡部、外務省の東亜局・南洋局などを廃止、統合して創設され、満州・中国、東南アジア占領地における一元的行政を目ざした。部局には大臣官房のほか、総務局、満州事務局、支那(しな)事務局、南方事務局の四局が置かれ、南方事務局の管轄には、タイ、インドシナも含まれた。「大東亜共栄圏」内における大公使館などの現地機関は大東亜省直轄官庁となった。所属官署に興亜錬成所、興亜錬成院があり、関係各官庁間の連絡機関として大東亜省連絡委員会が置かれた。東郷茂徳(とうごうしげのり)外相は、外務省の権限が縮小されることもあり、その新設に反対して辞任したが、軍の圧力で設置が強行された。青木一男が初代大東亜相となる。45年8月25日、東久邇稔彦(ひがしくになるひこ)内閣のときに廃止された。

［小林英夫］

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