Hideki Tojo was born on December 30, 1884 in Tokyo. Tojo attended the Japanese military college. He served as the Japanese military attaché in Germany after World War I. Tojo was the leader of the Japanese Military Party from 1931, advocating a policy of Japanese expansionism, and became War Minister in 1940. He was instrumental in negotiating the Japanese alliance with Germany. In 1941 he became Prime Minister and authorized the attack on Pearl Harbor.
As a result of Japanese losses, he resigned as Prime Minister in 1944. After the war he was arrested, charged as a war criminal and executed.