Kantaro Suzuki

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Count Kantaro Suzuki
December 24, 1867 – April 17, 1948
Japanese Admiral Suzuki Kantaro
Place of birth	Izumi Province, Japan
Place of death	Noda, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Years of service	1884–1929
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Imperial Japanese Navy
Battles/wars	First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War World War I World War II
Awards	Order of the Golden Kite (3rd class)
Other work	Grand Chamberlain, Privy Councillor Prime Minister of Japan

Admiral Count Kantaro Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木貫太郎 (Suzuki Kantarō, Japanese: 鈴木貫太郎^? 24 December 1867 - 17 April 1948) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April 1945 to 17 August 1945.

Suzuki was a key voice in favor of Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and full surrender to the Allied Powers, thus ending World War II.

[edit] Political and military life

Suzuki was born in Kusei village, Izumi Province (modern Sakai, Osaka Prefecture to a samurai magistrate of the Sekiyado clan. He grew up in the city of Noda, Kazusa Province (present day Chiba Prefecture). He entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1884, graduating from the 14th class in 1888. He was immediately shipped off to serve in the First Sino-Japanese War. He commanded a torpedo boat and participated in night torpedo assault in the Battle of Weihaiwei. In 1898, he was assigned to the warship Kasuga.

During the Russo-Japanese War, he commanded 4th Destroyer Division, which picked up survivors of the Port Arthur Blockade Squadron and was appointed executive officer of the cruiser Kasuga on 26 February 1904, aboard which he participated in the pivotal naval Battle of Tsushima.

After the war, he commanded the destroyer Akashi (1908), followed by the cruiser Soya (1909), battleship Shikishima (1911) and battlecruiser Tsukuba (1912). Promoted to rear admiral on 23 May 1913 and assigned to the Maizuru Naval District, he became Vice Minister of the Navy during World War I.

Promoted to vice admiral in 1917, after stints as Director of the Naval Academy, Commander of the 2nd fleet, then the 3rd fleet, then Kure Naval District, he became a full admiral on 3 August 1923. He became Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet in 1924.

After serving as Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff from 1925 to 1929, he retired and accepted the position as Grand Chamberlain and Privy Councillor.

He narrowly escaped assassination in the February 26 Incident in 1936: the would-be assassin's bullet remained inside Suzuki for the rest of his life, and was only revealed upon his cremation. Suzuki was opposed to Japan's war with the United States, before and throughout World War II.

[edit] Prime Minister

On 7 April 1945, following the Battle of Okinawa, Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso resigned and Suzuki took his place at the age of seventy-seven. (U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died less than a week later.) He was one of last chiefs in "Kodoha" Party in same period.

As prime minister, Suzuki contributed to the final peace negotiations with the Allies. He was involved in calling two unprecedented imperial conferences which helped resolve a split with in the Japanese Imperial Cabinet over the Potsdam Declaration. He had outlined the terms to Emperor Hirohito who used his imperial discretionary power to bring the war to a close. This went strongly against the military faction of the cabinet, who desired to continue the war in hopes of negotiating a more favorable peace agreement. Part of that faction attempted to assassinate Suzuki twice on the morning of 16 August 1945.

Once the surrender became public, Suzuki resigned, and Prince Higashikuni became prime minister.

Suzuki died of natural causes. One of his two sons became director of Japan's immigration service, while the other was a successful lawyer.

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Mamoru Shigemitsu	Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan 1945	Succeeded by: Shigenori Togo

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