Yōsuke Matsuoka

Date of Birth: March 3, 1880

Place of Birth: Hikari, Yamaguchi, Empire of Japan

Date of Death: June 26, 1946

Placeo of Death: Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, Occupied Japan

Ethnicity: Japanese

Yōsuke Matsuoka was a Japanese diplomat. He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs, from July 22, 1940 to July 16, 1941, and as Minister of Colonial Affairs, from September 1940 to July 1941. He also represented Yamaguchi’s 2nd district in the National Diet, from 1930 to 1936.

He was the son of Yū (Ogawa) and shipping magnate Sanjuro Matsuoka. While in the United States, he was put into the foster care of Isabelle (Dunbar) Beveridge, widow of John Beveridge, who were Scottish immigrants. He was married to Ryō Shin, with whom he had four children, including media executive Kenichiro Matsuoka.

Yōsuke’s paternal grandfather was named Matsuoka Gorōzaemon.

Yōsuke’s paternal grandmother was named Lady Katsuyama (the daughter of Shinzō Katsuyama).

Yōsuke’s maternal grandfather was named Ogawa Michihei.

Sources: Matsuoka Yōsuke and the Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1880-1946, 2002, by David John Lu

Genealogy of Yōsuke Matsuoka – https://www.geni.com