born Sept. 22, 1878, Tokyo, Japan
died Oct. 20, 1967, Ōiso
Japanese prime minister after World War II. He served as ambassador to Britain in the 1930s.
Late in the war (June 1945) he was arrested for attempting to force an early Japanese surrender; he was not freed until the start of the Allied occupation (September). He first became prime minister in 1946. Between 1946 and 1954 he formed five separate cabinets, guiding Japan back to economic prosperity and setting a course for postwar cooperation with the U.S. and Europe. In 1951 he negotiated the peace treaty that ended World War II; he also negotiated a security pact between Japan and the U.S. He retired from politics in 1955. See also Shōwa period .