Yonai Mitsumasa (1880-1948)

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Yonai Mitsumasa was born in Iwate prefecture and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1901 and the Naval Staff College in 1914. He was a language officer in Russia and Germany before commanding several battleships. He became a rear admiral in 1925 and vice admiral in 1930, commanding Combined Fleet in 1936. He was promoted to full admiral and became Navy minister in 1937, with Yamamoto Isoroku as his deputy. Evans and Peattie (1997) describe him as "a rarity in the navy, an officer with extensive sea experience, a broad perspective on the international scene, and an understanding that Japan's interests were best served by cooperation, not confrontation, with the Anglo-American maritime powers." Both Yonai and Yamamoto opposed the Tripartite Pact, but Yamamoto was so outspoken in his views that Yonai sent him to sea as commander of Combined Fleet in August 1939 to protect him from assassination by ultranationalists. Described by American naval attachés as gracious but perceptive, Yonai was opposed both to a military solution to the border dispute with Russia at Changkufeng and to war with the United States. However, he also opposed continued adherence to the naval disarmament treaties.

Yonai was named as prime minister in January 1940 after retiring from active duty. His cabinet collapsed after just six months due to pressure from the Army and ultranationalists. Out of favor during the Tojo years, his adamant refusal of an offer to serve as Navy Minister in place of Shimada helped precipitate the fall of Tojo following the loss of Saipan. However, Yonai agreed to serve as Navy Minister in the Koiso cabinet, with the understanding that the Emperor wished him to act as a virtual "co-premier" with Koiso. Yonai was one of the “doves” in the Cabinet that sought a negotiated peace with the Allies, and he continued to serve as Navy Minister in the Suzuki cabinet. His suggestion on 12 May 1945 that peace negotiations be pursued through Russian intermediaries was the first time the possibility of making peace was raised openly in the Cabinet. However, the Russians proved duplicitous, and the Japanese conditions would have been rejected out of hand by the Americans in any case.

Following the nuclear attacks, Yonai made a final plea (Toland 1970):

Therefore, we must forget about 'face' and surrender as quickly as possible, and begin to consider at once how best to preserve the country.

Yonai was the only member of the Suzuki cabinet to continue in office with the Higashikuni peace cabinet.

Following the war, Yonai testified in defense of accused war criminals, then became a strong patron of the economic development of Hokkaido.

Service record

References

Dupuy et al. (1992)

Evans and Peattie (1997)

Goldman (2012)

Hoyt (1993)

Materials of IJN (accessed 2008-7-11)

Toland (1970)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2011, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index

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