Kantarō Suzuki

Baron Kantarō Suzuki (鈴木 貫太郎) was a Japanese admiral and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945.

Early life
Suzuki was born on 18 January 1868, in Izumi Province (present-day Sakai, Osaka), the first son of local governor (daikan) of Sekiyado Domain Suzuki Yoshinori. He grew up in the city of Sekiyado, Shimōsa Province (present-day Noda, Chiba Prefecture).

Naval career
Suzuki entered the 14th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1884, graduating 13th of 45 cadets in 1887. Suzuki served on the corvettes JAPANESE CORVETTE Tsukuba, JAPANESE CORVETTE Tenryū and cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Takachiho as a midshipman. On being commissioned as ensign, he served on the corvette JAPANESE CORVETTE Amagi, cruiser Takao, corvette Jingei, ironclad JAPANESE CORVETTE Kongō, and gunboat JAPANESE GUNBOAT Maya. After his promotion to lieutenant on 21 December 1892, he served as chief navigator on the corvettes JAPANESE CORVETTE Kaimon, JAPANESE CORVETTE Hiei, and JAPANESE CORVETTE Kongō.

Suzuki served in the First Sino-Japanese War, commanding a torpedo boat and participated in a night torpedo assault in the Battle of Weihaiwei in 1895. Afterwards, he was promoted to lieutenant commander on 28 June 1898 after graduation from the Naval Staff College and assigned to a number of staff positions including that of naval attaché to Germany from 1901 to 1903. On his return, he was promoted to commander on 26 September 1903. He came to be known as the leading torpedo warfare expert in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Suzuki commanded Destroyer Division 2 in 1904, which picked up survivors of the Port Arthur Blockade Squadron during the Battle of Port Arthur. He was appointed executive officer of the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Kasuga on 26 February 1904, aboard which he participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. During the pivotal Battle of Tsushima, Suzuki was commander of Destroyer Division 4 under the IJN 2nd Fleet, which assisted in sinking the Russian battleship RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP Navarin.

After the war, Suzuki was promoted to captain on 28 September 1907 and commanded the destroyer Akashi (1908), followed by the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Soya (1909), battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Shikishima (1911) and cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Tsukuba (1912). Promoted to rear admiral on 23 May 1913 and assigned to command the Maizuru Naval District. Suzuki became Vice Minister of the Navy from 1914 to 1917, during World War I. Promoted to vice admiral on 1 June 1917, he brought the cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Asama and JAPANESE CRUISER Iwate to San Francisco in early 1918 with 1,000 cadets, and was received by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William Fullam. The Japanese cruisers then proceeded to South America. After stints as Commandant of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Commander of the IJN 2nd Fleet, then the IJN 3rd Fleet, then Kure Naval District, he became a full admiral on 3 August 1923. Suzuki became Commander in Chief of Combined Fleet in 1924. After serving as Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff from 15 April 1925 to 22 January 1929, he retired and accepted the position as Privy Councillor and Grand Chamberlain from 1929 to 1936.

Suzuki narrowly escaped assassination in the February 26 Incident in 1936; the would-be assassin's bullet remained inside his body 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.

Prime Minister


On 7 April 1945, Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso resigned and Suzuki was appointed to take his place at the age of seventy-seven. He simultaneously held the portfolios for Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Greater East Asia.

Prime Minister Suzuki contributed to the final peace negotiations with the Allied Powers in World War II. He was involved in calling two unprecedented imperial conferences which helped resolve the split within the Japanese Imperial Cabinet over the Potsdam Declaration. He outlined the terms to Emperor Hirohito who had already agreed to accept unconditional surrender. 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 this faction attempted to assassinate Suzuki twice in the Kyūjō Incident on the morning of 15 August 1945.

After the surrender of Japan became public, Suzuki resigned and Prince Higashikuni became the next prime minister. Suzuki was the Chairman of the Privy Council from 7 August 1944 to 7 June 1945 and again after the surrender of Japan from 15 December 1945 to 13 June 1946.

Suzuki died of natural causes on 17 April, 1948. His grave is in his home town of Noda, Chiba. One of his two sons became director of Japan's immigration service, while the other was a successful lawyer.

Honours
From the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article

Peerages

 * Baron (20 November 1936)

Decorations

 * Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd Class (28 August 1915; Fourth Class: 30 May 1905; Fifth Class: 30 November 1901; Sixth Class: 18 November 1895)
 * Order of the Golden Kite, 3rd Class (1 April 1906; Fifth Class: 18 November 1895)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (1 April 1916; Second Class: 19 January 1916; Third Class: 1 April 1906)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers (April 29, 1934)