May 6, 1943: A staged parade for Prime Minister Hideki Tojo of Japan
On May 5, 1943, a Japanese airplane landed at Nichols Field, a former American airfield south of Manila. The airplane carried the most powerful man in Imperial Japan.
This man was Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. He served as the leader of Japan from 1941 to 1944. He was the most significant advocate for a preemptive strike against the United States at Pearl Harbor. This was his first overseas trip since World War II had commenced.
Prime Minister Tojo had climbed the ladder of Japanese leadership by having a military background. He was from a military family. He attended the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and the Army War College. He rose to the rank of general in the Imperial Army.
On May 6, 1943, the Prime Minister was scheduled to attend a parade in Manila. Tojo had established the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and had consistently touted “Asia for Asians.” He thought that he could gain Filipino support in Southeast Asia by purporting independence for the Philippines. Most Filipinos were highly skeptical of his announcements.
The residents of Manila had no choice but to attend the parade. The Japanese occupation government made the parade mandatory. The schoolteachers and their students were ordered to attend. Their orders stated that “You are ordered and compelled to attend the parade.” The students and teachers were given little Japanese flags and instructed to wave them as Tojo passed by in his motorcade.
All government and private industry employees were ordered to attend. The parade originated on Taft Avenue and ended at Luneta Park. According to most accounts of the parade, the crowd was quiet and subdued.
The Japanese propaganda regarding the parade backfired on the Japanese. The propaganda stated that there was still resistance and fighting in the Philippines. On May 6, 1943, it had been one year since the Americans and Filipinos surrendered at Corregidor. This unexpected, good news encouraged Filipino and American guerrilla units throughout the Philippine Islands to hold on and continue their mission.
By the summer of 1944, the allies were making substantial military and naval progress and victories against Imperial Japan. Under pressure from many factions, Prime Minister Tojo resigned his position in the summer of 1944.
Following the defeat and surrender of Imperial Japan in August 1945, Hideki Tojo was charged and convicted of war crimes. He was executed by hanging on December 23, 1948.
Dennis Edward Flake is the author of three books on Philippine-American history. He is a Public Historian and a former park ranger in interpretation for the National Park Service at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA. He can be contacted at: flakedennis@gmail.com
