Mitsumasa Yonai

A military man and politician of the Showa period. Born in Iwate Prefecture on March 2, 1880. Graduated from the 29th class of the Naval Academy in 1901 (Meiji 34). After serving as captain of the battleship Mutsu, he served as commander-in-chief of the Third Fleet, Sasebo Naval District, Second Fleet, and Yokosuka Naval District, before becoming commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet in 1936 (Showa 11). In February 1937, he became Minister of the Navy in the Hayashi Senjuro Cabinet, and was promoted to Admiral in the same year. He continued in this position in both the first Konoe Fumimaro and Hiranuma Kiichiro Cabinets. During this time, when the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, he changed his policy to one of expansionism after August, and in January 1938 he supported the hard-line policy of "not treating the Nationalist Government as an opponent," but together with Vice Minister of the Navy Yamamoto Isoroku and Director General of the Military Affairs Bureau Inoue Shigeyoshi, he opposed the Army's policy of a Japan-Germany alliance, causing it to fail. In January 1940, he was placed in the reserves and formed a cabinet, but was attacked by the Army and "reformists" for being pro-British and pro-American, and in July he was overthrown by the Army's machinations to promote the policy of the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy. In July 1944, as the war situation in the Pacific War worsened, he returned to active duty and became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Navy in the Cabinet of Koiso Kuniaki. From then on, he served as Minister of the Navy in the cabinets of Suzuki Kantaro, Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko, and Shidehara Kijuro until the dissolution of the Navy, and worked hard to end the war and deal with the defeat. He passed away on April 20, 1948. He was a smart and mild-mannered man, and was a kind of ace among the moderates in the Navy.

[Yoshiaki Yoshimi]

"Yonai Mitsumasa" by Yuzuru Sanematsu (1966, Kojinsha)" ▽ "A Lone Boat in the Turbulent Currents: The Life of Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa" by Yuzuru Toyoda (1978, Kodansha)" ▽ "The True Story of Navy Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa: The Life of a Military Politician Who Devoted His Heart and Mind to the Future of the Nation" by Yuzuru Sanematsu (2009, Kojinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昭和期の軍人、政治家。明治13年3月2日岩手県に生まれる。1901年（明治34）海軍兵学校第29期卒業。戦艦陸奥(むつ)艦長などを務めたのち、第三艦隊、佐世保鎮守府(させぼちんじゅふ)、第二艦隊、横須賀鎮守府の各司令長官などを歴任し、1936年（昭和11）連合艦隊司令長官となった。1937年2月林銑十郎(はやしせんじゅうろう)内閣の海相に就任。同年海軍大将。以後第一次近衛文麿(このえふみまろ)、平沼騏一郎(ひらぬまきいちろう)両内閣の海相に留任。この間1937年日中戦争が始まると、8月以後拡大方針に転換し、1938年1月「国民政府ヲ対手(あいて)トセズ」との強硬方針にくみしたが、陸軍の日独同盟政策には山本五十六(やまもといそろく)海軍次官、井上成美(いのうえしげよし)軍務局長とともに反対し挫折(ざせつ)させた。1940年1月予備役となって内閣を組織したが、親英米的であるとして陸軍や「革新派」の攻撃を受け、7月、日独伊三国同盟政策を進める陸軍の策謀で倒された。1944年7月太平洋戦争の戦局悪化のなかで現役に復帰し、小磯国昭(こいそくにあき)内閣の副総理兼海相に就任。以後、海軍の解体まで鈴木貫太郎、東久邇宮稔彦(ひがしくにのみやなるひこ)、幣原喜重郎(しではらきじゅうろう)各内閣の海相に留任し、戦争終結と敗戦処理のために尽力した。昭和23年4月20日死去。スマートで穏和な人柄の人物であり、海軍穏健派のエース的存在であった。

［吉見義明］

『実松譲著『米内光政』（1966・光人社）』▽『豊田穣著『激流の孤舟――提督・米内光政の生涯』（1978・講談社）』▽『実松譲著『海軍大将米内光政正伝――肝脳を国の未来に捧げ尽くした一軍人政治家の生涯』（2009・光人社）』

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