{{Short description|Japanese general (1874–1955)}} {{Western name order|Minami Jirō}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jirō Minami | native_name = {{No bold|南 次郎}} | native_name_lang = ja | image = Minami Jirō 1931.jpg | caption = Minami in 1931 | office = Governor-General of Korea | monarch = Hirohito | term_start = 5 August 1936 | term_end = 15 June 1942 | predecessor = Kazushige Ugaki | successor = Kuniaki Koiso | office1 = Minister of the Army | prime_minister1 = Reijiro Wakatsuki | term_start1 = 14 April 1931 | term_end1 = 13 December 1931 | predecessor1 = Kazushige Ugaki | successor1 = Sadao Araki | office2 = Member of the House of Peers | term_start2 = 31 March 1945 | term_end2 = 7 December 1945 {{hanging indent|Nominated by the Emperor}} | office3 = Member of the Privy Council | term_start3 = 29 May 1942 | term_end3 = 29 March 1945 | monarch3 = Hirohito {{collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes | Military positions |titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}} {{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes | office4 = Commander of the Kwantung Army | monarch4 = Hirohito | term_start4 = 10 December 1934 | term_end4 = 6 March 1936 | predecessor4 = Takashi Hishikari | successor4 = Kenkichi Ueda | office5 = Commander of the Japanese Korean Army | monarch5 = Hirohito | term_start5 = 1 August 1929 | term_end5 = 22 November 1930 | predecessor5 = {{ill|Hanzo Kanaya|ja|金谷範三}} | successor5 = Senjūrō Hayashi | office6 = Member of the Supreme War Council | monarch6 = Hirohito | term_start6 = 13 December 1931 | term_end6 = 10 December 1934 | term_start7 = 22 December 1930 | term_end7 = 14 April 1931 | monarch7 = Hirohito {{Collapsed infobox section end}}}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|08|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Hiji, Ōita, Japan | death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|12|05|1874|08|10|df=y}} | death_place = Kamakura, Japan | allegiance = {{Flag|Empire of Japan}} | branch = {{army|Empire of Japan}} | service_years = 1895–1936 | rank = 35px General | commands = 16th Division<br>Japanese Korean Army<br>Kwantung Army | unit = | battles = Russo-Japanese War<br>Second Sino-Japanese War | awards = | family = }} {{nihongo|'''Jirō Minami '''|南 次郎| Minami Jirō|extra=10 August 1874 – 5 December 1955}} was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor-General of Korea between 1936 and 1942. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
==Early life== Born to an ex-''samurai'' family in Hiji, Ōita Prefecture, Minami came to Tokyo as a boarding student, and was eventually accepted into the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. After graduating from the academy in February 1895, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry in May. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1897 and to captain in November 1900.
==Career== Minami served in the Russo-Japanese War as a member of the headquarters staff and as a company commander in the 1st Cavalry Regiment, where he participated in the Siege of Port Arthur. He was promoted to major in March 1905 and to lieutenant colonel in February 1910. Promoted to colonel in August 1915, he commanded the IJA 13th Cavalry Regiment from 1914 to 1917, during World War I. He was Chief of the Cavalry Section of the Ministry of War from 1917 to 1919.<ref>Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography</ref>
Attaining the rank of major general in July 1919, Minami served as commander of the IJA 3rd Cavalry Brigade in 1921–1923, then as Commandant of the Cavalry School in 1922–1923, and returned to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy as its commandant in 1923-1924.
Minami was promoted to lieutenant general in February 1924 and commanded the IJA 16th Division from 1926 to 1927. After serving as Vice Chief of the General Staff from 1927 to 1929, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Chosen Army from 1929 to 1930. He was promoted to full general in March 1930.<ref>Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II</ref>
Returning to Japan, Minami was appointed Minister of War in the Wakatsuki Cabinet in 1931. As War Minister, his role dispatched Major General Yoshitsugu Tatekawa to Manchuria specifically to curb the militarist behaviors of the Kwantung Army, but the Mukden Incident took place to worsen Sino-Japanese relations before Tatekawa could act.<ref>Chen, World War II Database</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=October 2023}} Minami was War Minister during the Imperial Colors Incident.
Minami served as a member of the Supreme War Council from 1931 to 1934. He then received a posting as Commander of the Kwantung Army from 1934 to 1936 during which he was concurrently Japanese ambassador to Manchukuo.
Minami was placed on the reserve list in 1936, after the February 26 Incident, and forced into retirement from active service.
However, in 1936, Minami was appointed Governor-General of Korea, a position he then held until 1942.<ref>Wendel, Governor-Generals of Korea</ref> His tenure in Korea was marked by a more hardline approach than his predecessors, with a rolling back of various liberal reforms of the 1920s. In addition, Minami outlawed all but one of the Korean-language newspapers and strongly pushed for the ''soshi-kamei'' policy.
After his term in Korea, Minami served as a member of the Privy Council from 1942 to 1945. In March, when the Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association in the Diet reorganised into the Dai Nippon Seijikai, Minami was chosen as president of the new organisation.{{sfn|Shillony|1991|p=75}} He immediately resigned from the Privy Council and was appointed to the House of Peers.
==Arrest and conviction== After World War II, Minami was arrested by the American Occupation authorities and brought before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was convicted only of Counts 1 and 27, of being a leader in the plan to wage an unprovoked war of aggression against China, largely since he was Minister of War at the time of the Manchurian Incident. However, he was acquitted of waging a war of aggression against the United States, the British Commonwealth, and the Netherlands and was also acquitted of two charges related to prisoner abuse.<ref>Maga, Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials</ref> He was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1954 on the grounds of his health. He died a year later.
==References== {{reflist}}
===Books=== *{{cite book | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002 | title = The Making of Modern Korea, A History | publisher = Routledge | location = | isbn = 0-415-23749-1 }} *{{cite book | last = Dupuy | first = Trevor N. | year = 1992 | title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography | publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd | location = | isbn = 1-85043-569-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmi0000dupu }} *{{cite book | last = Maga | first = Timothy P. | authorlink = | year = 2001 | title = Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials | publisher = University Press of Kentucky | location = | isbn = 0-8131-2177-9 }} *{{cite book | last = Shillony | first = Ben-Ami | year = 1991 | title = Politics and Culture in Wartime Japan | publisher = Clarendon Press | location = | isbn = 0198202601 }}
==External links== *{{cite web | last = Ammenthorp | first = Steen | url = https://www.generals.dk/general/Minami/Jiro/Japan.html | title = Minami, Jiro | work = The Generals of World War II }} *{{cite web | last = Chen | first = Peter | url = http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=362&list=Ground | title = Minami, Jiro | work = WW2 Database }} *{{cite web | last = Wendel | first = Marcus | url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7148 | title = Minami, Jiro | work = Governor-Generals of Korea }} {{commons category|Jirō Minami}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box| title=Minister of War| before=Kazushige Ugaki| after=Sadao Araki| years= 14 April 1931 – 13 December 1931| }} {{s-gov}} {{succession box| title=Governor of Kwantung Leased Territory| before=Takashi Hishikari | after=Kenkichi Ueda| years=Dec 1934 – Mar 1936| }} {{succession box| title=Governor-General of Korea| before=Kazushige Ugaki| after=Kuniaki Koiso| years=Aug 1936 – May 1942| }} |- {{s-mil}} {{succession box | before=Hanzo Kanaya | title=Commander, IJA Chosen Army | years=Aug 1929 – Nov 1930 | after=Senjuro Hayashi}} {{succession box | before=Takashi Hishikari | title=Commander, Kwantung Army | years=Dec 1934 – Mar 1936 | after=Kenkichi Ueda}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minami, Jiro}} Category:Japanese generals Category:Japanese colonial governors and administrators Category:1874 births Category:1955 deaths Category:Governors-general of Chōsen Category:Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Category:Members of the Kwantung Army Category:Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Category:Japanese people convicted of war crimes Category:Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression Category:Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Category:People of the Kwantung Leased Territory Category:Military personnel from Ōita Prefecture Category:Japanese anti-communists Category:People paroled from life sentence Category:Japanese politicians convicted of crimes