Hideki Tojo ( Kyūjitai : ; Shinjitai : ; '' '' ; December 30 , 1884 – December 23 , 1948 ) was a Japanese politician and general of the Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) who concurrently served as the Imperial Rule Assistance Association 's leader and 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II . He was among the most outspoken proponents for preventive war against the United States before the attack on Pearl Harbor and one of the leading perpetrators behind Japanese war crimes on prisoners of war and civilians during the Pacific conflict . After the end of the war , Tojo was arrested , condemned and sentenced to death by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East , and hanged on December 23 , 1948
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes
Hideki Tojo