Hideki Tojo(30 December 1884  23 December 1948) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, member and succeeding leader of the Taisei Yokusankai and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944. Some historians hold him responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which led to America's direct involvement in World War II. After the end of the war, Tojo� was sentenced to death for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed by hanging on 23 December 1948.