Kuniaki Koiso： Wartime Prime Minister Following Hideki Tojo
By Rong Weimu
Kuniaki Koiso was born in March 1880 in Utsunomiya City， Tochigi Prefecture. A career soldier， he graduated from the Japanese Military Academy and the Army War College， and joined in the Japanese-Russian War. In succession， he held the posts of staff officer in Kwantung Office in charge of military and civil affairs in northeast China， head of secret service agencies in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk， Commanding Officer of the 51st Regiment， Section Chief of the General Staff， head of Administration Division with the Army Aeronautical Department， head of Material Mobilization Bureau and of Military Affairs Bureau， Vice Minister of War， Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army， Commander in Chief of the Chosen Army stationed in Korea， and so on. After retiring from the army， he acted as Minister of Overseas Affairs in Kiichiro Hiranuma and Yonai Mitsumasa"s cabinets respectively， and Governor-General of Korea. He was appointed Prime Minister in July 1944. Obviously， Koiso"s career had been closely related to Japan"s aggression war.
Being involved in abortive fascist coup d"état
As early as when working in the Kwantung Office， Koiso suggested Japan"s colonial rule in northeast China be strengthened， thus winning the good graces of Giichi Tanaka who chaired an Oriental meeting after assuming the office of Prime Minister and put forward the aggressive policy of occupying the northeast followed by conquering the whole China. After the disarmament conference opened in Washington， Koiso supported Japan to adopt a hard-line policy for overseas expansion. In 1931， Koiso， then head of Military Affairs Bureau with the Ministry of War， was involved in hatching a coup plot to establish a military dictatorship. Although it failed， fascist forces began to grow rapidly in Japan ever since.
In the following morning after the September 18 Incident in 1931， he said at a War Ministry meeting： "The Kwantung Army"s operation is reasonable and appropriate. We must give the army strong backing to completely settle the issue of Manchuria."
Pushed by Koiso and others， the meeting finally decided to dispatch reinforcements to the Kwantung Army. After the war the persons concerned confessed that the September 18 Incident was actually a predesigned action， set off by the explosion of a railway section at Liutiaohu carried out by the Kwantung Army. Therefore what Koiso said at the meeting was a pack of lies， aiming to instigate Japan"s aggression against northeast China. He succeeded. The Japanese army stationed in Korea invaded the northeast on September 21， and Koiso asked then Prime Minister Reijiro Wakatsuki to accept the fait accompli. In December he was promoted Vice War Minister.
Formulating a series of measures to maintain colonial rule in northeast China
After being appointed Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army in 1932， Koiso formulated a series of measures to maintain colonial rule in northeast China， and drew up a "punitive expedition" plan targeting the anti-Japanese army of volunteers. Afterwards， the Kwantung Army brutally suppressed armed revolts in the northeast， wantonly plundered the rich resources of the region， and committed unpardonable crimes to the Chinese people.