Army Minister and Governor-General of Korea In January 1924, Ugaki was appointed
Army Minister by Prime Minister
Keigo Kiyoura. He continued in this post in the
Katō Takaaki and the first
Reijirō Wakatsuki cabinets until April 1927. The political machinations of the
Rikken Seiyukai political party and his mentor, Tanaka Giichi, were behind his appointment. Ugaki strove to protect the superior position of the Imperial Japanese Army in Japanese politics, fearing a loss of influence to the
Imperial Japanese Navy, should the
United States be judged "Hypothetical National Enemy No. 1". Ugaki's plans called for an Army of 50 divisions. Nevertheless, despite Ugaki's strenuous opposition, the Katō Takaaki cabinet continued with its fiscal retrenchment policy (from May 1925) and Ugaki was forced to eliminate four infantry divisions (the
IJA 13th Division,
IJA 15th Division,
IJA 17th Division, and
IJA 18th Division), which resulted in the release of approximately 2,000 commissioned officers. He was also forced to shorten the period of time conscripts served with the remaining divisions and to force many senior officers into early retirement. The fact that the monies saved by these policies were used to implement much-needed modernization of military equipment and training had little impact on Ugaki's extremely unpopularity within the Army, and in 1927 Ugaki accepted a posting as
Governor-General of Korea from April 1927 rather than continue as Army Minister. Ugaki's first term as Governor-General of Korea was only until December 1927. ,
Heikichi Ogawa, Ugaki Kazushige (left to right),
Kijūrō Shidehara (standing far right),
Ryōhei Okada (seated far right) on 19 December 1929 In 1929, Ugaki was promoted to full
general. Under Prime Minister
Hamaguchi Osachi, he agreed to return as Army Minister in July 1929. However, the failure of Hamaguchi's economic policies after the start of the
Great Depression and his push for demilitarization with the
London Naval Treaty of 1930 enraged right-wing ultranationists. In 1931, although Ugaki refused to cooperate with them, he also failed to punish the insurgents responsible for the
March Incident, an attempted coup-d'etat by young officers of the
Sakurakai who sought to make him Prime Minister. Having lost the support of his fellow officers, Ugaki resigned from the military in April 1931 and once again accepted a posting as Governor-General of Korea. During his second period in Korea, from June 1931 to August 1936, Ugaki made concentrated efforts to build up the industrial base in the Korean peninsula, especially in the areas of heavy industry and munitions, which he felt would be invaluable in an upcoming war with China, which he considered unavoidable in the near future. He also promoted a policy of reconciliation which was in stark contrast to the more repressive regimes before and after his administration.
Almost Prime Minister Recalled to Japan after the fall of the
Hirota Kōki administration, Ugaki was named
Prime Minister in February 1937, but was unable to form a Cabinet due to strong opposition from his political enemies within the Army. Ugaki was highly regarded by
Saionji Kinmochi and was perceived as having a moderate foreign policy and being opposed to the increasingly fascistic trends within the military. The situation in Japan had become highly unstable, with increasing international isolation following the withdrawal from the
League of Nations, lack of economic recovery and increasing distrust of politicians due to constant corruption scandals, and terrorist attacks by elements of the Army itself. After the
February 26 Incident in 1936, the Japanese military had obtained a restoration of the requirement that the Army and Navy Ministers must be selected only from active duty officers. Ugaki, although Prime Minister-designate (and a retired full general in his own right) remained a
persona non grata with the Army leadership over his previous terms as Army Minister and over the
March Incident, along with his alleged ties to the
zaibatsu businesses over the Korean industrialization program, so they refused to provide him with the position of Army Minister. As a consequence, although officially appointed, Ugaki could never assume office. The post of prime minister then went to
Senjūrō Hayashi, another ex-general and member of the
Tōseiha faction. The Imperial Japanese Army's ability to control the formation of a government by means of withholding nomination of a cabinet minister was a staggering blow to the evolution of
parliamentary government and
democracy in Japan and unquestionably, the decisive factor in the military supremacy over civilian authority before and during
World War II.
Subsequent career In May 1938, Ugaki accepted the post of
Foreign Minister under the first
Konoe administration, simultaneously holding the portfolio of
Minister of Colonial Affairs, but resigned after only four months. Ugaki had been requested by Konoe for assistance to negotiate a peace settlement with the
Republic of China following the
Marco Polo Bridge incident to avoid an all-out war. Ugaki enlisted the aid of British and American ambassadors to open a direct negotiation with Chinese premier
H. H. Kung; however, his efforts were quickly undercut by the Japanese Army, who applied pressure onto Konoe that the military and not a civilian military should be responsible for all negotiations. Konoe wavered between positions and finally sided with the military, and Ugaki resigned in protest. In 1944, Ugaki left politics and accepted the post of president of
Takushoku University, which he held throughout the remainder of the war years. He was the center of a movement which supported a quick end to World War II, and from 1943 was active in efforts to oust Prime Minister
Hideki Tojo from office. After
World War II, along with all former members of the Japanese government, Ugaki was
purged from public service and arrested by the
American Occupation authorities. However, he was never charged with any
war crimes, and was soon released. In 1953, Ugaki ran for public office on a national ticket and was elected to the
House of Councillors in the post-war
Diet of Japan with an overwhelming vote. Ugaki died in 1956 at his summer villa in
Izunokuni,
Shizuoka. ==Decorations==