The Rise and Fall of Yoshida Shigeru

After the occupation, a core of Japanese leaders began working together to realize Okta Saburo's ideas. They were led by an ambitious Prime Minister and ex diplomat named Yoshida Shigeru. He objected strongly to Japan's adventures both in China and in the Pacific; he was imprisoned for his anti-war faction inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a certain sense, though, being imprisoned was a favor for him, as that very imprisonment made him acceptable to the allied government as a politician.