Heisuke Yanagawa
Heisuke Yanagawa (柳川 平助
Yanagawa Heisuke,
October 2,
1879-
January 22,
1945) was a
Japanese soldier and politician. During his career, he attained the posts of
Division Commander and
Vice-Minister of War, becoming Lt Gen in December 1931. He became involved in more political and theoretical activities. He retired on September 26, 1936.
He was a
right-wing military politician; during military serviceLieutenant-General Yanagawa rose to the post of Division Commander. Oneof his first political actions was membership in the
Kodaha Faction, under the lead of General
Sadao Araki and
Jinsaburo Mazaki and
Hideyoshi Obata. This was the
radical Army grouping opposed to
Toseiha Faction, under the guidance of
Kazushige Ugaki and his own partidaires; later the group represented a
moderate wing in the Army. Later two factions combined in the
Imperial Way Faction and he was a member of its leadership cabinet previously and in the
Pacific War Period.
Yanagawa was a radical defender of
State Shintoism doctrinealong with General
Kuniaki Koiso, restoring the
Preliminary Misogi Rite, along with
Kiichiro Hiranuma and his creationof the
Shintoist Rites Research Council and
Chikao Fujisawa as amember in the
Diet, proposed a law that
Shinto should be reaffirmed as the state religion, as in past times. He was a leader in the
Taisei Yokusankai(Imperial Rule Assistance Association) group.
Under the political patronage of
Baron Hiranuma, with support from the
zaibatsu groups, he took over the
Justice Ministry from
Akira Kazami, a figure of the
Fumimaro Konoye group; another government post was as
Vice-Minister of War. During this post in government he led the
Keishicho (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department).
He retired from active military and political service in 1936, butmaintained his ideological post in the
Kodoha government movement forthe rest of wartime.
