Jirō Minami

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Minami Jirō
10 August 1874 – 5 December 1955
General Minami Jirō
Place of birth	Hiji, Bungo Province, Japan
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Years of service	1895–1936
Rank	General
Commands	Imperial Japanese Army
Battles/wars	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War
Other work	Governor-General of Korea Privy Council (Japan)

Jirō Minami (南次郎, Minami Jirō ^?), (10 August 1874 – 5 December 1955) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor-General of Korea between 1936 and 1942.

Born to an ex-samurai family in Hiji, Ōita Prefecture, he came to Tokyo as a boarding student, and was eventually accepted into the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the cavalry in 1895.

He 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 1905, and to major general in 1919.

He returned to the Army Academy as its commandant in 1923 He was promoted to lieutenant general, and commanded the 16th Division from 1926 to 1927. After serving as Vice Chief General Staff from 1927 to 1929, be became Commander-in-Chief of the Chosen Army from 1929 to 1930. He was promoted to full general in 1930.

Returning to Japan, he was appointed Minister of War in the Wakatsuki Cabinet in 1931, and served as a member of the Supreme War Council from 1931 to 1934. He was War Minister during the Imperial Colors Incident. He then received a posting as Commander of the Kwangtung Army from 1934 to 1936, during which time he was concurrently Japanese ambassador to Manchukuo.

He was placed on the reserve list in 1936, after the February 26 Incident.

However, in 1936, he became 8th Governor-General of Korea between 1936 and 1942, and a member of the Privy Council (Japan) from 1942 to 1945.

After World War II, he was arrested by the American Occupation authorities and brought before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East as a Class A War Criminal. He was defended by William J McCormack. He was convicted of being a leader in the planning of waging an unprovoked war and a 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 also acquitted of two charges related to prisoner abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1954 on the grounds of his health.