Teijirō Toyoda

Teijirō Toyoda
Vice Admiral Toyoda Teijirō (1935-41)
Born	August 7, 1885 Wakayama Prefecture,Empire of Japan
Died	November 21, 1961(1961-11-21)(aged 76)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1905–1941
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Abukuma,Yamashiro,Naval Affairs Bureau,Hiro Naval Arsenal,Kure Naval Arsenal,Sasebo Naval District,Naval Aviation Bureau,Naval Construction Bureau
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Other work	Vice-Minister of the Navy,Minister of Commerce and Industry,Minister for Foreign Affairs,Minister of Colonial Affairs,Minister of Munitions,Minister of Transport and Communication

Teijirō Toyoda(Phong điền trinh thứ lang,Toyoda Teijirō,August 7, 1885 – November 21, 1961)was a career naval officer who served asMinister for Foreign Affairsin 1941 and as admiral in theImperial Japanese NavyduringWorld War II.

Biography

Early life

Toyoda was born inWakayama Prefectureas the son of a formersamurairetainer of theWakayama Domain.He studied at Tennoji junior high school before entering the Tokyo Foreign Languages School where he studiedEnglish.He graduated as the top student out of 171 cadets in the 33rd term of theImperial Japanese Naval Academyin 1905. TheRusso-Japanese Warended in November 1905 during the time of Toyoda’s graduation and he was assigned as amidshipmanto serve inSoutheast Asiaon the cruisersItsukushimaandKatori,destroyerYayoi,and cruiserChitose.After completingnaval artilleryandtorpedowarfare course, he was promoted toensignand assigned to thebattleshipShikishima,followed bySatsuma.

In 1910,LieutenantToyoda studied an advanced artillery course at theNavy Staff Collegea second grade student for a year, and then was assigned to studies in theUnited Kingdom,as part of an exchange program under the newAnglo-Japanese Alliance.Toyoda remained inEngland,studying atOxford Universityfor two and a half years, returning to Japan in 1914.

World War I

After his return to Japan, Toyoda was appointed as squad leader of the 4th Squadron on theHiei.During the later period of theFirst World War,theEmpire of Germanydeclared unrestrictedU-boatoperations and attacked transport ships indiscriminately. This resulted in a request by the United Kingdom for Japan to send warships to escort transports under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Toyoda, who had been promoted tolieutenant commanderin 1916, was sent to command the 4th Squadron based inSydneyfrom 1917. His assignment was to patrol thesea lanesbetweenAustraliaandNew Zealand.

In December 1917, after the safety of Australia was secured, Toyoda returned to Japan and re-entered the Naval Staff College where he studied for two years as a first-class student. Again, he graduated the top of his class. After graduating with the rank ofcommanderin 1920, he was appointed as a central member of staff for Naval Affairs at the Naval Department. He served for three years between 1920 and 1923.

Interwar years

After serving asexecutive officerfor six months onKongō,Toyoda returned to London in 1923 as anaval attaché.He lived in London for four years, during which time he was promoted tocaptain,and handled intelligence collected by paid-spyWilliam Forbes-Sempill, Master of Sempill.He was then assigned as a member of the Japanese delegation to theLeague of Nations-sponsoredGeneva Naval Conference.He returned to Japan at the end of 1927. Due to his extensive period abroad, Toyoda had become an expert on foreign affairs but knew little of the domestic situation within Japan and therefore often had conflicting views with the other members of his delegation at the disarmament talks.

After his return to Japan, Toyoda was assigned as captain of thecruiserAbukuma,followed by the battleshipYamashiro.

Toyoda was called upon again for theLondon Naval Disarmament Talksand returned to England again as a member of the Japanese delegation. After the treaty was signed he returned to Japan and was promoted torear admiral.

In 1931, Toyoda was appointed as commander of theYokosuka Naval District.However, after only six months, he was relieved from the position. It is supposed that the dismissal was caused by something Toyoda said toPrince Fushimi Hiroyasu,who had been newly appointed as head of theImperial Japanese Navy General Staff.

Although his military specialty was in naval artillery, Toyoda was reassigned to flight navigation headquarters. In November 1932, at the time of periodic personnel transfer, he was placed in charge of a military aircraft factory atHiroshima.Both assignments were considered demotions; however, Toyoda renewed his efforts and waited for an opportunity with a positive outlook. As Toyoda’s grasp of aircraft technology slowly increased, he became dissatisfied with factory operations, as it was difficult to obtain the necessary tools and parts. Toyoda took steps to improve productivity.

In November 1935, Toyoda was promoted tovice admiral,and by February 1936, he had become director of theKure Naval Arsenal.In December 1937, he was reassigned as commander of theSasebo Naval District.

In November 1938, Toyoda became commander of theImperial Japanese Navy Air Service,and during three months in the summer of 1939, he jointly managed the Naval Shipbuilding Command.

Political career

In 1940, Navy MinisterZengo Yoshidaresigned. Despite opposition byNaval MinisterKoshirō Oikawa,theTripartite Pactbetween Japan,Nazi GermanyandFascist Italywas signed. Toyoda, who also personally opposed the treaty, became Vice Minister of the Navy on September 6, 1940.

In April 1941, the cabinet was reorganized and Toyoda was requested byPrime MinisterFumimaro Konoeto becomeMinister of Commerce and Industry.After careful consideration, Toyoda decided to leave the Imperial Japanese Navy; however, his letter of resignation was not accepted and he was promoted to fulladmiraland transferred to reserve duty instead. AdmiralMineichi Koga,who had switched to the world of politics as well, was critical of Toyoda's attempted resignation, accusing him of using the navy as a stepping stone to a political career.

After only three months, a cabinet reshuffle became necessary due to the forced resignation of the increasingly strident pro-AxisForeign MinisterYōsuke Matsuoka.Toyoda, who had earlier opposed the Tripartite Pact and was vocal in this opposition to prospects for war with theSoviet Union,replaced Matsuoka as Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 18, 1941. One of his first priorities was to attempt to smooth over the rapidly deteriorating diplomatic relations with theUnited States,and he dispatched AdmiralKichisaburō Nomuraas ambassador toWashington DC.Toyoda also advanced plans for a face to face meeting between Prime Minister Konoe andAmerican PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.However, the negotiations failed to occur. In July, Toyoda also predicted that the further Japanese aggression southwards per theNanshin-ronpolicy, and specifically plans for the Japanese occupation ofFrench Indochina,would lead to a totaltrade embargoby the United States, if not war.In October 1941, the entire Konoe Cabinet resigned.

Later career

After his resignation from the cabinet, Toyoda accepted the post of director of the nationalizedJapan Iron and Steel Works.He was finally able to pursue his interest in improvingsteel production,a topic in which he had shown much interest since his days as director of the Kure Naval Arsenal. Between the last half of 1941 and the first half of 1942, Japanese steel production decreased for lack of workers. Toyoda improved work methods and initiated welfare programs for children who had graduated from junior high school and for Korean workers as well as for those who had lost their jobs. By ensuring that there was always a steady work force, work conditions improved, which allowed steel production to keep up with war-created worsening conditions that created problems in maintaining the necessary amount of resources.

Toyoda remained distant from politics but in March 1943 he was called to be a special adviser to the Cabinet. There was intense confrontation between the army and navy over how war materials should be allocated between them. While Toyoda provided a formula to resolve this problem, it did not go according to plan.

Toyoda once again became a cabinet minister during theSuzuki administrationand was appointedMinister for Transportation and Communicationsas well asMinister of Munitions.With an increasing portion of Japan's industrial base andinfrastructuredamaged byAlliedair raids, Toyoda struggled to improve efficiency and to increase production levels, particularly that ofcombat aircraft.

After thesurrender of Japan,most members of the wartime Japanese cabinets were accused ofwar crimesby theAllied occupation authoritiesand arrested. However, Toyoda was not prosecuted due to his efforts for peace prior to the start of the war.

In 1958, Toyoda was appointed Chairman of the Japan–Usiminasjoint venturesteel development inBrazil.On November 21, 1961, he died ofkidney cancerat the age of 76.

Bibliography

• Taliaferro, Jeffrey W. (2004).Balancing Risks: Great Power Intervention in the Periphery.Cornell University Press.ISBN0-8014-4221-4.

External links

• Nishida, Hiroshi."Imperial Japanese Navy".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-14.
• Newspaper clippings about Teijirō Toyodain the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW