Hideo Kodama

Did You Know?

• During the Russo-Japanese War, he served as liaison between Tokyo's civilian government and Japanese armies in Manchuria from the Liaodong Peninsula.
• After Japan's surrender, he was purged from public service by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.

Biography

Hideo Kodama was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture. In 1900, he graduated from the Law School of Tokyo Imperial University and, that same year, entered the Ministry of Finance after passing his civil service exams. His career included various bureaucratic roles. During the Russo-Japanese War, he was posted to the Imperial General Headquarters and sent to the Liaodong Peninsula, then under Japanese occupation, where he acted as a link between Tokyo’s civilian government and the Japanese armies in Manchuria. After the war, he returned to the Finance Ministry to lead the Tobacco Monopoly. Later assignments included work in the Japanese Government-General of Korea, a secretaryship on the Privy Council, and a seat in the House of Peers. When his father died on 23 July 1906, Kodama inherited the viscount title and entered the House of Peers. He petitioned the Meiji Emperor, who elevated him to count on 2 October 1907 in honor of his father’s service. From 1916 to 1918, he served as Chief Cabinet Secretary. He then governed the Kwantung Leased Territory from 26 September 1923 to 17 December 1927, and in the late 1920s became the civilian administrator of Korea. In October 1934, the Okada Cabinet appointed him Minister of Colonization. He became Minister of Communications under the Hayashi Cabinet in February 1937. From January to July 1940, he was Home Minister in the Yonai Cabinet. In 1942, at the Imperial Japanese Army’s request, he traveled to Java in the occupied Netherlands East Indies as a special advisor. In 1944, he served as a minister without portfolio in the Koiso Cabinet, and from February to April 1945, he was that cabinet’s Education Minister. After Japan’s surrender, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers purged him from public service. He died in 1947 and is buried at Tama Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo.