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Quiz about Japans Prime Ministers Imperial Edition

Japan's Prime Ministers (Imperial Edition) Quiz

Unlike their postwar counterparts, these men presided over "transcendent" cabinets and served at the pleasure of the emperor. They created the modern Japanese state -- and then set it on the road to disaster. How well do you know them?

A multiple-choice quiz by Guiguzi. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
Guiguzi

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
367,830

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
125

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Who was the first man to serve as prime minister when Japan adopted the cabinet system in 1885? (Hint: He also had the primary role in drafting the Meiji Constitution that was promulgated in 1889.) Hint

Yamagata Aritomo

Ito Hirobumi

Fukuzawa Yukichi

Okuma Shigenobu

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Question 2 of 10

2. Matsukata Masayoshi, prime minister from 1891 to 1892 (and again from 1896 to 1898), had earlier served as Minister of Finance in the 1880s, with the result that one of the following words has become indelibly associated with his name. Choose wisely! Hint

inflation

deflation

reflation

stagflation

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Question 3 of 10

3. During the first decade of the twentieth century two men, both proteges of the original Meiji oligarchs, traded the premiership back and forth repeatedly. Who were they? Hint

Saionji and Katsura

Itagaki and Okuma

Araki and Mazaki

Ito and Yamagata

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which of the following events forced General Terauchi Masatake to resign the premiership in September 1918? Hint

Riots over the high price of rice

Yet another geisha scandal

China's successful resistance to Japan's "21 Demands"

His failure to prevent the Bolsheviks from consolidating their control over the Russian Far East

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Question 5 of 10

5. What was the significance of Hara Kei's elevation to the premiership in 1918 to replace General Terauchi? Hint

It was made possible by the extension of the franchise to some (but not all) working-class males

Continuing dominance of government by the Sat-Cho oligarchs

Japan's progress toward a "Westminster system" of parliamentary government

Emergence of a two-party system in Japan

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Question 6 of 10

6. The premiership of imperial Japan could be a dangerous job. Which of these four prime ministers was NOT struck down by an assassin? Hint

Hamaguchi Osachi

Inukai Tsuyoshi

Hara Kei

Wakatsuki Reiijiro

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Question 7 of 10

7. The Kenseikai (Progressive Party) government led by Prime Minister Kato Komei extended the franchise in Japan and pursued a policy of cooperation in its relations with the Western powers. It also enacted the Peace Preservation Law in 1925. What did this law do? Hint

It signaled Japan's adherence to the Kellogg-Briand Treaty

It prohibited striking workers from picketing outside their workplaces

It gave the authorities extensive powers for preemptive action against perceived subversives

It was written to prevent junior officers in the field from taking unauthorized initiatives that might draw Japan into war

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Question 8 of 10

8. Prince Konoe Fumimaro, prime minister at the beginning of the "China Incident" in 1937 and again during the crisis in relations with the United States in the summer and autumn of 1941, was the scion of an ancient Japanese noble family. Which one? Hint

Tachibana

Hitotsubashi

Mononobe

Fujiwara

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Question 9 of 10

9. Here's a toughie for you: The life of General Tojo Hideki, prime minister from 1941 to 1944, intersected briefly with that of an American named Jimmy Johnson. What was their relationship? Hint

Johnson was a captured U.S. airman tortured on Tojo's orders

Johnson was the executioner who released the trapdoor when Tojo was hanged in Sugamo Prison on December 31, 1948

Johnson was Tojo's court-appointed defense attorney at the Tokyo Tribunal (IMTFE)

Johnson was the U.S. Army surgeon who saved Tojo's life after his attempted suicide on September 11, 1945

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Question 10 of 10

10. Let's close with something a little easier: Who succeeded General Tojo as prime minister in the summer of 1944? Hint

Admiral Suzuki Kantaro

General Koiso Kuniaki

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko

Baron Hiranuma Kiichiro

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Ito Hirobumi

From the late 1870s onward, Ito was one of the most important members of the Meiji oligarchy. He was born into a samurai family in the feudal domain of Choshu in 1841 and, as the first Japanese resident-general in Korea, was assassinated by a Korean patriot in 1909. Yamagata was also one of the oligarchs. Okuma was a key political figure (often in opposition) during the same period, and Fukuzawa was an important intellectual leader and educator.

Answer: deflation

Matsukata Masayoshi (1835-1924) began his career as a samurai in the southern domain of Satsuma. As Finance Minister, he pursued deflationary policies and retrenchment to control the rampaging inflation of the early 1880s and create a sound base for modern economic growth.

3. During the first decade of the twentieth century two men, both proteges of the original Meiji oligarchs, traded the premiership back and forth repeatedly. Who were they?

Answer: Saionji and Katsura

Prince Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940), the protege and political heir of Ito Hirobumi, served as prime minister in 1906-1908 and again in 1911-1912. Katsura Taro, a Choshu general and protege of Yamagata Aritomo, was prime minister in 1901-1906, 1908-1911, and 1912-1913.

4. Which of the following events forced General Terauchi Masatake to resign the premiership in September 1918?

Answer: Riots over the high price of rice

Terauchi Masatake (1852-1919) was another Choshu general. Appointed prime minister in October 1916, he was brought down in September 1918 because of rioting over the high price of rice in Japan's major cities.

5. What was the significance of Hara Kei's elevation to the premiership in 1918 to replace General Terauchi?

Answer: Japan's progress toward a "Westminster system" of parliamentary government

Hara Kei (aka Hara Takashi, 1856-1921) was known as the "commoner prime minister," the first man to hold that office who was neither an oligarch, an ex-oligarch, nor the protege of an oligarch. He was the leader of the majority party (the Seiyukai) in the lower house of the Imperial Diet, and governed with its support. He was also Japan's first true master of pork-barrel politics.

6. The premiership of imperial Japan could be a dangerous job. Which of these four prime ministers was NOT struck down by an assassin?

Answer: Wakatsuki Reiijiro

Hara Kei was stabbed to death by a right-wing fanatic in November 1921. Hamaguchi Osachi, leader of the Minseito (Democratic Party), was shot at Tokyo Station in November 1930 by a right-winger angry over Japanese concessions at the London Naval Conference; he died of his wounds a few months later. Inukai Tsuyoshi, leader of the Seiyukai (Liberal Party), was gunned down by naval cadets on May 15, 1932 -- an event that marked the end of party governments in prewar Japan.

Wakatsuki Reijiro (1866-1949), a close political associate of Hamaguchi and his successor as prime minister, got away unscathed.

Answer: It gave the authorities extensive powers for preemptive action against perceived subversives

This is a classic example of the ambivalent character of Japan's "Taisho democracy" in the 1920s, both progressive and reactionary at the same time. Working men were given the vote, but their political options were severely restricted.

Answer: Fujiwara

Prince Konoe (1891-1945) traced his descent from Fujiwara Iezane (1179-1242), founder of the Konoe line. Originally a disciple of Prince Saionji Kinmochi, he also had good connections with "restorationist" elements in the bureaucracy and the military. He committed suicide shortly after Japan's surrender to avoid arrest and trial as a Class A war criminal.

9. Here's a toughie for you: The life of General Tojo Hideki, prime minister from 1941 to 1944, intersected briefly with that of an American named Jimmy Johnson. What was their relationship?

Answer: Johnson was the U.S. Army surgeon who saved Tojo's life after his attempted suicide on September 11, 1945

A U.S. Army surgeon attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, Captain Johnson arrived with an ambulance at Tojo's residence about an hour after the general shot himself on September 11, 1945. He dressed the wound and administered a blood transfusion and morphine, and Tojo was taken into U.S. military custody.

After conviction by the Tokyo Tribunal (International Military Tribunal for the Far East) as a Class A war criminal, Tojo was hanged at Sugamo Prison on December 31, 1948. Johnson, a native of Keyser, West Virginia, went on to practice medicine in Newark, Ohio, for two decades.

His encounter with Tojo is briefly mentioned in Courtney Browne's book "Tojo: The Last Banzai," pages 210-212.

10. Let's close with something a little easier: Who succeeded General Tojo as prime minister in the summer of 1944?

Answer: General Koiso Kuniaki

Koiso (1880-1950) had served as governor of Korea from 1942 to 1944. He resigned the premiership in April 1945 and was succeeded by Admiral Suzuki. Suzuki was in turn succeeded by Prince Higashikuni, an uncle of Emperor Hirohito, on August 17, 1945. Baron Hiranuma had briefly served as prime minister in 1939, and was president of the emperor's Privy Council in 1945.

Source: Author Guiguzi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
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