Japanese army general and army minister. Born in Oita on 21 February 1887, Anami Korechika graduated from Military Academy in 1905. He was military aide to Emperor Hirohito from 1926 to 1932. Promoted to colonel in 1930, he commanded the Imperial Guards Regiment during 1933–1934, and he headed the Tokyo Military Preparatory School from 1934 to 1936. He was promoted to major general in 1935 and to lieutenant general in 1938, when he took command of the 109th Division. During 1940–1941, he was vice minister of war. Anami commanded the Eleventh Army in central China from April 1941 to July 1942. He next headed the Second Army in Manchuria and was promoted to full general in 1943.

In December 1944, Anami became inspector general of army aviation. Highly regarded within the army, in April 1945 he became army minister in the government of Prime Minister Suzuki Kantaro. Anami was one of those who urged that Japan continue the war. Even after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan two days later, Anami continued to urge Emperor Hirohito to remain in the war. Anami believed that Japan could negotiate more satisfactory terms if it could inflict heavy losses on Allied forces invading the Japanese home islands. Foreign minister Togo Shigenori and Minister of the Navy Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa opposed Anami's position. In any case, Emperor Hirohito decided to accept the Potsdam Declaration and surrender. Anami and other hawks in the army plotted a military coup d'état, but Anami finally agreed to accept the surrender, and this development led to collapse of plans for a coup. Anami committed suicide in Tokyo on 15 August 1945, shortly before Hirohito's broadcast to the Japanese people.

Kotani Ken

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Further Reading
Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House, 1999.; Oki, Shuji. Anami Korechika Den (The life of Anami Korechika). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1970.