Cabinet loyalty and the Sixteenth Gathering

Yonai's cabinet lasted roughly half a year, yet its ministers and supporters maintained a close bond after his resignation. In 1947 they formed a reunion group whose name referred to the sixteenth, the date associated with Yonai taking and losing office. Their descendants reportedly continued to meet. The persistence of the group suggests that his cabinet was held together by more than temporary political convenience. The account places that loyalty beside an important caveat: Yonai's conduct and some of his orders in China were far from benign.