Editing Keisuke Okada

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Japan from 1934 to 1936}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Senior Second Rank]]
| name                = Keisuke Okada
| native_name         = {{No bold|岡田 啓介}}
| native_name_lang    = ja
| image               = Prime Minister Keisuke Okada.jpg
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch             = [[Hirohito]]
| term_start          = 8 July 1934
| term_end            = 9 March 1936
| predecessor         = [[Saitō Makoto]]
| successor           = [[Kōki Hirota]]<!-- Fumio Gotō was merely Prime Minister Ad-interim (内閣総理大臣臨時代理), not Acting Prime Minister (内閣総理大臣臨時兼任). -->
| office1             = [[Ministry of Communications (Japan)|Ministry of Communications]]
| primeminister1      = ''Himself''
| term_start1         = 9 September 1935
| term_end1           = 12 September 1935
| predecessor1        = [[Tokonami Takejirō]]
| successor1          = [[Mochizuki Keisuke]]
| office2             = [[Ministry of Colonial Affairs (Japan)|Minister of Colonial Affairs]]
| primeminister2      = ''Himself''
| term_start2         = 8 July 1934
| term_end2           = 25 October 1934
| predecessor2        = [[Ryūtarō Nagai]]
| successor2          = [[Hideo Kodama]]
| office3             = [[Ministry of the Navy (Japan)|Minister of the Navy]]
| primeminister3      = Saitō Makoto
| term_start3         = 26 May 1932
| term_end3           = 8 July 1934
| predecessor3        = [[Mineo Ōsumi]]
| successor3          = Mineo Ōsumi
| primeminister4      = [[Tanaka Giichi]]
| term_start4         = 20 April 1927
| term_end4           = 2 July 1929
| predecessor4        = [[Takarabe Takeshi]]
| successor4          = Takarabe Takeshi
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1868|1|20|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Asuwa District, Fukui|Asuwa, Fukui]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1952|10|7|1868|1|20|df=y}}
| death_place         = 
| resting_place       = [[Tama Cemetery]]
| relatives           = [[Hisatsune Sakomizu]] (son-in-law)
| signature           = OkadaK kao.png
| party               = [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
| profession          = [[Admiral]]
| alma_mater          = [[Imperial Japanese Naval Academy]]
}}
{{nihongo|'''Keisuke Okada'''|岡田 啓介|Okada Keisuke|extra= 20 January 1868 – 7 October 1952}} was a Japanese admiral and statesman who served as [[Prime Minister of Japan]] from 1934 to 1936.

Born to a samurai family in the Fukui Domain, Okada became an officer in the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] and served during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. After reaching the rank of Admiral, he served as minister of the navy under Prime Minister [[Tanaka Giichi]] from 1927 to 1929 and under Prime Minister [[Saitō Makoto]] from 1932 to 1933. 

Okada was appointed prime minister to succeed Saito in 1934. A moderate who attempted to restrain the rise of militarism, Okada was among those targeted by a group of rebel officers in the [[February 26 incident]] of 1936. Okada narrowly survived, but resigned in the aftermath of the incident. 

As a senior statesman during the [[Pacific War]], Okada was a central figure in efforts to oust Prime Minister [[Hideki Tojo]] and seek peace with the allies.

==Early life and education==
Okada was born on 20 January 1868, in [[Fukui Prefecture]], the son of a [[samurai]] of the [[Fukui Domain]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=岡田啓介｜近代日本人の肖像 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/41/ |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=近代日本人の肖像 National Diet Library |language=ja}}</ref> He attended the 15th class of the [[Imperial Japanese Naval Academy]], graduating 7th out of a class of 80 cadets in 1889.

==Military career==
Okada served as a [[midshipman]] on the [[ironclad warship]] [[Japanese corvette Kongō (1877)|''Kongō'']] and the cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Naniwa||2}}. He was commissioned an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] on 9 July 1890. He later served as [[lieutenant]] on the {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Itsukushima||2}} and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Takachiho||2}} as well as the corvette [[Japanese corvette Hiei (1877)|''Hiei'']].<ref>Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy</ref>

In the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], Okada served on the {{ship|Japanese battleship|Fuji||2}}. After his graduation from the [[Naval War College (Japan)|Naval Staff College]], he subsequently served on the {{ship|Japanese battleship|Shikishima||2}} and as [[executive officer]] on the {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Yaeyama||2}}. He was promoted to [[lieutenant]] on 9 December 1894, to [[lieutenant commander]] on 29 September 1899 and to [[commander]] on 13 July 1904.

During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Okada served as executive officer on a successor of vessels, including the {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Chitose||2}}, {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kasuga||2}} and ''Asahi''. He was promoted to captain on 25 September 1908 and given his own command, the ''Kasuga'' on 25 July 1910. He later transferred to the {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kashima||2}} in 1912.

Promoted to [[rear admiral]] on 1 December 1913, Okada served in a number of desk jobs thereafter, including that of the Naval Shipbuilding Command. He was promoted to [[vice admiral]] on 1 December 1917 and to full [[admiral]] on 11 June 1924.

Okada assumed the post of [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Combined Fleet]] in 1924. In 1927, he became [[Ministry of the Navy of Japan|Minister of Navy]] in the administration of [[Tanaka Giichi]], but resigned in 1929 to assume the post of military councillor on the [[Supreme War Council (Japan)|Supreme War Council]].

Okada was one of the few supporters ([[Treaty Faction]]) within the upper ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy of the arms reduction treaty resulting from the [[London Naval Treaty]] of 1930, which he helped negotiate and worked hard for its ratification.  He again served as Navy Minister in the [[Saitō Makoto]] cabinet of 1932.

Okada entered the reserves on 21 January 1933 and retired five years later.

[[File:Okada Matsuo.jpg|thumb|left|Okada (left) and [[Denzō Matsuo]]]]

==Premiership (1934–1936)==
{{seealso|Okada Cabinet}}
In July 1934, Okada was named [[Prime Minister of Japan]] holding simultaneously the portfolio of [[Ministry of Colonial Affairs (Japan)|Minister of Colonial Affairs]]. In the month of September 1935, he also briefly held the portfolio of [[Ministry of Communications (Japan)|Minister of Post and Telecommunications]]. Okada was one of the democratic and moderate voices against the increasing strength of the [[Japanese militarism|militarists]], and was therefore a major target for extremist forces pushing for a more totalitarian Japan. He narrowly escaped assassination in the [[February 26 Incident]] of 1936, largely because rebel troops killed Colonel [[Denzō Matsuo]], brother-in-law as well as personal secretary of Okada's, by misidentifying him as the prime minister. Okada emerged from hiding on 29 February 1936. However, he left office a few days later.

==Later life==
Okada was adamant in his opposition to the war with the [[United States]]. During [[World War II]], Okada formed a group of like-minded politicians and military officers seeking an early end to the hostilities. After the defeat of Japanese forces at the [[Battle of Midway]] and [[Battle of Guadalcanal]], Okada pushed for negotiations with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], and played a leading role in the overthrow of the [[Hideki Tōjō]] cabinet in 1944.

Okada died in 1952, and his grave is at the [[Tama Cemetery]], in [[Fuchū, Tokyo]].

==Honors==
[[File:Virtuti Militari to Japanese officers (1928).jpg|thumb|240px|[[Podpolkovnik|Podpułkownik]] [[Wacław Jędrzejewicz]] awards Admiral Keisuke Okada with [[Virtuti Militari|VM]]s in 1928]]

''From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia''

*[[Order of the Golden Kite]], (3rd class) (1915)
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] (1920)
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Paulownia Flowers]] (1933)
*[[Virtuti Militari|Knight's Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari]] (No. 128) ([[Poland]], 1928)<ref name="vm">[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVmPdbIWAAAp_-m?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 ''Lista oficerów Armji Japońskiej Kawalerów Orderu "Virtuti Militari"'']</ref>
*[[Virtuti Militari|Golden Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari]] (No. 539) (Poland, 1928)<ref name="vm"/>

== See also ==
* [[Okada Cabinet]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last = Bix, Herbert P.|author-link = Herbert Bix|year = 2001|title = Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan|title-link = Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan|publisher = Harper Perennial }} {{ISBN|978-0-06-019314-0}}; {{OCLC|247018161}}
*{{cite book|last = Brendon|first = Piers|year = 2002|title = The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s|publisher = Vintage; Reprint edition |isbn = 0-375-70808-1}}
*{{cite book|last = Gordon|first = Andrew|author-link = Andrew Gordon (historian)|year = 2003|title = A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present |url = https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofj0000gord|url-access = registration|publisher = Oxford University Press
|isbn = 0-19-511061-7}}
*{{cite book|last = Jansen|first = Marius B|author-link = Marius Jansen|year = 2002|title = The Making of Modern Japan|publisher = Harvard University Press }}  {{ISBN|9780674003347}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44090600  OCLC 44090600]

==External links==
*{{cite web|last = Nishida|first = Hiroshi|url = http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px15.htm#a001|title = Materials of IJN: Okada, Keisuke|work = Imperial Japanese Navy|access-date = 2007-08-03|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130104052307/http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px15.htm#a001|archive-date = 2013-01-04|url-status = dead}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/022772}}

{{Commons category|Keisuke Okada}}
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{{s-end}}
}}
{{IJN}}
{{Prime Ministers of Japan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okada, Keisuke}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Navy]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Fukui Prefecture]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy admirals]]
[[Category:People of the First Sino-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War]]
[[Category:People of Meiji-era Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite]]
[[Category:Knights of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:Burials at Tama Cemetery]]
[[Category:Government of the Empire of Japan]]