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Prince Fumimaro Konoe (Japanese: 近衞 文麿, Hepburn: Konoe Fumimaro, 12 October 1891 – 16 December 1945) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. He also played a central role in transforming his country into a totalitarian state by passing the State General Mobilization Law and founding the Imperial Rule Assistance Association by dissolving all other political parties. Born in Tokyo to a prominent aristocratic family, Konoe took up his father's seat in the House of Peers of the Imperial Diet in 1916. He was a member of the Japanese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. In 1933, Konoe assumed the presidency of the House of Peers. In 1937, on the recommendation of his mentor Saionji Kinmochi, Konoe was appointed prime minister by Emperor Hirohito. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident took place a month after his appointment and escalated into full-scale warfare. Konoe oversaw Japanese victories during the early phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War and pushed through the State General Mobilization Law, placing the country on war-time footing. Konoe resigned as prime minister in 1939 as Chinese resistance continued and the war dragged on. Konoe served as chairman of the Privy Council until 1940 when he was again appointed prime minister. The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was founded later that year, while Japan concluded the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, launched an invasion of French Indochina and formally recognized Wang Jingwei's government in Nanjing. In 1941, Japan concluded the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. Despite Konoe's attempts to resolve tensions with the United States, the rigid timetable imposed on negotiations by the military and his own administration's inflexibility set Japan on the path to war. Politically isolated, Konoe resigned as prime minister in October 1941 and was replaced by Hideki Tojo. Six weeks later the Pacific War broke out following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Konoe remained a close advisor to Hirohito until the end of World War II and played a role in the fall of Tojo cabinet in 1944. At the start of the Allied occupation of Japan, he served in the cabinet of Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni. After coming under suspicion of war crimes, Konoe committed suicide in December 1945, aged 54, by ingesting cyanide. Early life Fumimaro Konoe (often Konoye), was born in Tokyo on 12 October 1891 to the prominent Konoe family, one of the main branches of the ancient Fujiwara clan. This made the Konoe "head of the most prestigious, and highest ranking noble house in the realm." They had first become independent of the Fujiwara in the 12th century, when Minamoto no Yoritomo divided the Fujiwara into the Five Regent Houses (go-sekke). Japanese historian Eri Hotta described the Konoe as "First among the go-sekke"; Fumimaro would be its 29th leader. While the average height of Japanese people at that time was around 160 cm (5 ft 3 in), Konoe was over 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall. Konoe's father, Atsumaro, had been politically active, having organized the Anti-Russia Society in 1903. Fumimaro's mother died shortly after his birth; his father then married her younger sister. Fumimaro was misled into thinking she was his real mother, and found out the truth when he was 12 years old after his father's death. Upon his father's death in 1912, Fumimaro not only inherited his father's aristocratic title of koshaku (duke or prince) but also his debt. Thanks to the financial support of the zaibatsu Sumitomo, which he received throughout his career, and the auction of Fujiwara heirlooms, the family was able to become solvent. Fumimaro's younger brother, Hidemaro Konoye, later became a symphony conductor and founded NHK Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from Taimei Elementary School, he went on to study at Gakushuin, which was an institution to educate the children of the children of Japan's nobility. He was inspired by Inazo Nitobe, the dean of the First Higher School. Uncharacteristically for someone from a high-ranking aristocratic background, he chose to study at the First Higher School for university preparatory education, instead of staying at Gakushuin. Upon graduating in 1912, he proceeded to study philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University, where he again studied together with his former peers from Gakushuin. He subsequently transferred to Kyoto Imperial University to pursue studies in Marxian economics. At Kyoto Imperial University, Fumimaro studied socialism, translating Oscar Wilde's "The Soul of Man Under Socialism" into Japanese. There, he met genrō Saionji Kinmochi and became his protégé. After graduation, Fumimaro turned to Saionji for advice about starting a political career, and worked briefly in the home ministry before accompanying his mentor to Versailles as part of the Japanese peace delegation. But first, Konoe completed two tasks. With Kiku, one of several geisha lovers in his life, he fathered an illegitimate child. And in December 1918, he also published an essay entitled "Reject the Anglo-American-Centered Pacifism" (英米本位の平和主義を排す, eibei-hon'i no heiwashugi o haisu). In this article, he argued that western democracies were supporting democracy, peace, and self-determination only hypocritically, while actually undermining those ideals through racially discriminatory imperialism. He attacked the League of Nations as an effort to institutionalize the status quo: colonial hegemony by the western powers. Following a translation by American journalist Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard, Saionji wrote a rebuttal in his journal, Millard's Review of the Far East. Saionji considered Konoe's writing reckless, but, after it became internationally read, Konoe was invited to dinner by Sun Yat-sen. Sun admired Japan's quick modernization; at the dinner, they discussed pan-Asian nationalism. During the Paris Peace Conference, Konoe was one of the Japanese diplomats who proposed the Racial Equality Proposal for the Covenant of the League of Nations. When the Racial Equality Clause came up before the committee, it received the support of Japan, France, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, and China. However, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson overturned the vote, declaring that the clause needed unanimous support. Konoe took the rejection of the Racial Equality Clause very badly, seeing it as a humiliation of Japan. Upon his return to Japan he published a booklet where he described his travels to France, Britain and the U.S., how he was angered by rising anti-Japanese sentiment there, and how government policy in the US discriminated against Japanese immigration. He also described China as a rival to Japan in international relations. House of Peers In 1916, while at university, Fumimaro .... Discover the Eri Hotta popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Eri Hotta books.