The was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1942 to 1945, established to replace the Ministry of Colonial Affairs. Its purpose was to administer overseas territories obtained by Japan in the Pacific War and to coordinate the establishment and development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
History and development The Ministry of Greater East Asia was established on 1 November 1942 under the administration of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō, by absorbing the earlier and merging it with the East Asia Department and South Pacific Department of the Foreign Ministry and the , which looked after affairs in Japanese-occupied China.
Theoretically, the ministry had political and administrative responsibilities in a vast area under Japanese influence (extending south from the Aleutians to the Solomon Islands, and west from Wake Island to Burma and the Andamans), with perhaps a population of over 300 million inhabitants. In reality, wartime conditions meant that the ministry was little more than a paper creation. Aside from the first Minister of Greater East Asia, Kazuo Aoki, all succeeding ministers simultaneously held the portfolio of the Foreign Minister.
The Ministry of Greater East Asia was abolished on 26 August 1945 by order of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers after the surrender of Japan brought an end to Japan's overseas holdings.
List of ministers of Greater East Asia Portrait Name Term of office Cabinet 1 Kazuo Aoki青木 一男 1 November1942 22 July1944 Tōjō 2 Mamoru Shigemitsu重光 葵 22 July1944 7 April1945 Koiso 3 Kantarō Suzuki鈴木 貫太郎 7 April1945 9 April1945 Suzuki 4 Shigenori Tōgō東郷茂徳 9 April1945 17 August1945 5 Mamoru Shigemitsu重光 葵 17 August1945 25 August1945 Higashikuni
See also Greater East Asia Conference Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Japanese colonial empire List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan
References
External links WW2DB: Greater East Asia Conference "Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East". Adam Matthew Publications. Accessed 2 March 2005.