Sadao Araki

Sadao Araki was a prominent figure in the Japanese militarism and nationalism of the early 20th century. He was born into a samurai family and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and the Army Staff College. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War and the Siberian Intervention, and rose to the rank of general in 1933. He became the Minister of War in the cabinet of Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, and advocated for a radical expansion of the Japanese Empire and a totalitarian state based on the emperor's divine rule. He was the leader of the Kōdō-ha (Imperial Way) faction, which clashed with the more moderate Tōsei-ha (Control) faction within the army. He was involved in several coup attempts and political assassinations, and was forced to resign as Minister of War in 1934 after the failed February 26 Incident. He later served as Minister of Education and as a member of the Supreme War Council. He was a staunch supporter of the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and endorsed the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. After Japan's defeat in World War II, he was arrested by the Allied occupation forces and tried as a Class-A war criminal. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was paroled in 1955. He remained a vocal advocate of his nationalist views until his death in 1966.