Shigetaro Shimada helped engineer Nagano's fall as his disputes with Tojo intensified. Tojo used the course of the war to remove the army chief of staff and combine that office with the premiership. He then made Shimada both navy minister and chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. Japanese sailors mocked the compliant admiral as Tojo's underpants, a nickname that captured how little institutional independence he retained. The concentration weakened professional challenge at precisely the point when Japan needed candid strategic reassessment.
Notable Point · 2:57:09-2:58:40
Shimada helped Tojo concentrate army and navy command
Tojo used wartime setbacks to remove Nagano, take the army staff role himself, and place the compliant Shimada over both Japan's navy ministry and naval general staff.