Keisuke Okada

Okada Keisuke
岡田 啓介
Prime Minister of Japan
In office
8 July 1934 – 9 March 1936
MonarchHirohito
Preceded bySaitō Makoto
Succeeded byHirota Kōki
Minister of the Imperial Japanese Navy
In office
26 May 1932 – 9 January 1933
Prime MinisterSaitō Makoto
Preceded byŌsumi Mineo
Succeeded byŌsumi Mineo
In office
20 April 1927 – 2 July 1929
Prime MinisterTanaka Giichi
Preceded byTakarabe Takeshi
Succeeded byTakarabe Takeshi
Personal details
Born(1868-01-20)20 January 1868
Fukui, Japan
Died7 October 1952(1952-10-07) (aged 84)
Political partyIndependent
Alma materImperial Japanese Naval Academy
ProfessionAdmiral
Signature

Okada Keisuke (岡田 啓介, Okada Keisuke, 20 January 1868 – 7 October 1952) was a Japanese admiral and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1934 to 1936.

Born to a samurai family in the Fukui Domain, Okada became an officer Imperial Japanese Navy and served during the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. After reaching the rank of Admiral, he served as minister of the navy under Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka from 1927 to 1929 and under Prime Minister Makoto Saito from 1932 to 1933.

Okada was appointed prime minister to succeed Saito in 1934. A moderate who attempted to restrain the rise of militarism, Okada was among those targeted by a group of rebel officers in the February 26 incident of 1936. Okada narrowly survived, but resigned in the aftermath of the incident.

As a senior statesman during the Pacific War, Okada was a central figure in efforts to oust Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and seek peace with the allies.