Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

244 • TOKUGAWA, YOSHINOBU
TOKUGAWA, YOSHINOBU (ALSO KNOWN AS KEIKI HITOT-
SUBASHI, 1837–1913). The 15th and last shogun of Japan, he
reigned for only two years, 1866–1867, but played a major role in the
Tokugawa shogunate government for several years before he ascended
to the position of shogun. He formally gave up his powers to
the imperial house in late 1867, but his supporters fought against the
anti-Tokugawa forces led by Satsuma and Choshu domains for another
year. He was declared an enemy of the state in 1868, and then
pardoned the following year. Although admired by many Japanese,
he played no role in political affairs after 1868. See also BOSHIN
WAR; MEIJI RESTORATION.
TOKYO FIREBOMBING (9–10 MARCH 1945). The largest and most
deadly firebombing raid launched by American military forces during
World War II killed more than 100,000 people in Tokyo. During the
final months of the war, American B-29 bombers struck Tokyo, Yokohama,
Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Sendai, and several other cities with either
firebombs (incendiary bombs) or conventional bombs. See also
ATOMIC BOMBINGS; PACIFIC WAR; WORLD WAR II.
TOSHIBA MACHINE INCIDENT. On 27 May 1987, the Japanese
police arrested two senior executives from Toshiba Machine Co. The
two had been in charge of designing and exporting strategically sensitive
products to the Soviet Union: Toshiba Machine Co.’s four nineaxis
and four five-axis milling machines in 1982–1984 and 1984, respectively,
in violation of the Coordinating Committee on
Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM). The United States complained
that the machines were used to make improved propellers for
Soviet submarines that made them quieter and harder to detect. However,
information disclosed after the collapse of the Soviet Union revealed
that this was a false accusation. The Soviet Union had just improved
its nuclear-powered submarines to absorb noises. This
incident developed into a major diplomatic row, resulting in a U.S.
ban of Toshiba, the parent company of Toshiba Machine Co., exports
to the United States. This harsh sanction was partly a consequence of
U.S.–Japan trade conflicts that had arisen in the 1970s. U.S. criticism
of Japan escalated. In order to deal with this crisis, Tokyo promised
to strengthen domestic laws concerning the COCOM regula-