Kōichi Kido

Who was Kōichi Kido?

Marquis Kōichi Kido served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to Emperor Showa throughout World War II.

Kido was the grandson of Kido Takayoshi, one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration. A graduate of Kyoto University, he held numerous minor bureaucratic posts before becoming Minister of Education in the first Konoe cabinet, and Home Minister in the Hiranuma Cabinet. During the period from 1937 to 1939 Kido adopted the conspirator's views and devoted himself to this policy wholeheartedly. As education minister he applied himself to the development of a warlike spirit in Japan. He was active with Konoye to replace existing political parties with a single party to dominate all political action. Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, he recommended to the Emperor that Fumimaro Konoe succeed Mitsumasa Yonai for a second term as Prime Minister of Japan. In 1941, he recommended that Hideki Tōjō become Prime Minister after Konoe.

Kido was also one of the more cautious advisors to the emperor at the beginning of World War II, and one of the chief advocates of peace at the end. Kido is known to have advised the emperor against attacking the Dutch East Indies in 1941, explaining that such an attack might provoke the United States into war, and that any oil obtained by taking the East Indies would still have to be transported, and would be subject to blockades and attacks by plane and submarine. Kido also claimed after the war that Emperor Hirohito was never aware of the plans to attack Pearl Harbor until after the attack occurred. Four years later, at the end of the war, Kido is generally credited with convincing the government to accept the Potsdam Declaration and surrender. He also convinced the emperor that it would be necessary to deliver a personal speech in order to ensure that all civilians and soldiers would cease fighting.