War and Diplomacy in Modern Japan: Prime Minister Koki Hirota and His Times

This open access book examines the life and work of Koki Hirota, who served as Japan's foreign minister and prime minister from 1933 to 1938 - the period that saw the final Japanese diplomatic attempts at achieving a modus vivendi with China before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It looks at the failed attempts to prevent that war from evolving into a protracted conflict. Hirota's actions and inactions during this time resulted in a death sentence at the Tokyo Trials following...