Japanese Diplomat. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he served briefly in the foreign ministry and then entered the South Manchurian Railroad Company in 1921. Matsuoka became a spokesman for the expansionist Japanese policy and led the Japanese delegation out of the League of Nations in 1933. He was appointed president of the South Manchurian Railroad in 1935. Matsuoka was the principal promoter of the Japanese alliance with the fascist powers, and as foreign minister from 1940 to 1941 in the second Konoe cabinet he followed a policy of strengthening ties with the Axis, neutralizing the Soviet Union, and making a settlement with the United States. He helped forge the Pact of Berlin on September 27, 1940, which bound Japan to the Axis, and early in 1941 he signed a five-year peace pact with the Soviets. After the German attack on Russia in June 1941, Matsuoka left the cabinet. He was indicted as a war criminal after World War II but died before his trial ended. After his death, he was enshrined at Yasukuni Jinja War Shrine.
Japanese Diplomat. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he served briefly in the foreign ministry and then entered the South Manchurian Railroad Company in 1921. Matsuoka became a spokesman for the expansionist Japanese policy and led the Japanese delegation out of the League of Nations in 1933. He was appointed president of the South Manchurian Railroad in 1935. Matsuoka was the principal promoter of the Japanese alliance with the fascist powers, and as foreign minister from 1940 to 1941 in the second Konoe cabinet he followed a policy of strengthening ties with the Axis, neutralizing the Soviet Union, and making a settlement with the United States. He helped forge the Pact of Berlin on September 27, 1940, which bound Japan to the Axis, and early in 1941 he signed a five-year peace pact with the Soviets. After the German attack on Russia in June 1941, Matsuoka left the cabinet. He was indicted as a war criminal after World War II but died before his trial ended. After his death, he was enshrined at Yasukuni Jinja War Shrine.
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