Tojo Resigns: Japan's War Machine Crumbles

The fall of Saipan brought American bombers within striking range of Tokyo and destroyed the political position of the man who had led Japan into war. General Hideki Tojo resigned as Prime Minister on July 18, 1944, after the loss of the Mariana Islands made it mathematically certain that Japan's cities would be devastated by strategic bombing and the war was heading toward catastrophic defeat. Tojo had concentrated more power in his hands than any Japanese leader since the Meiji Emperor. He simultaneously held the positions of Prime Minister, War Minister, Army Chief of Staff, and Minister of Munitions, an unprecedented accumulation that reflected both his personal ambition and the military's dominance over Japanese governance since the 1930s. As War Minister, he had been the driving force behind the decision to attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941, arguing that American oil and steel embargoes left Japan no choice but to seize the resource-rich territories of Southeast Asia. The Pacific War had turned decisively against Japan by mid-1944. The American island-hopping campaign had captured the Gilbert and Marshall Islands and was closing on the Marianas, the inner ring of Japan's defense perimeter. The Battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19-20, nicknamed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," destroyed 600 Japanese aircraft and three aircraft carriers. Saipan fell on July 9 after savage fighting that killed 30,000 Japanese soldiers and over 20,000 Japanese civilians, many of whom committed suicide by jumping from cliffs rather than surrender. Saipan's loss was the breaking point. The island put Japan's home islands within range of the new B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber, and the civilian toll shocked even Japan's militarized public. Senior statesmen, known as the jushin, pressured Tojo to resign. Emperor Hirohito, who had tacitly supported Tojo for three years, withdrew his backing. Tojo submitted his resignation on July 18 and was replaced by General Kuniaki Koiso, who proved equally unable to alter Japan's trajectory toward defeat. Tojo attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest when American soldiers came to arrest him in September 1945. He survived, was tried for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and was hanged on December 23, 1948.