Manchu-Japanese Imperial Ties

Yesterday was the anniversary of the start of the 1911 Revolution in China that ended with the abdication of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and an end to thousands of years of the imperial monarchial tradition in China. Later, the Empire of Japan would correct one of the great historic injustices associated with this uprising by restoring the last Qing Emperor to the throne of his ancestral homeland of Manchuria, which was his birthright. In honor of that, here are some photos of the Manchu and Japanese Emperors together on the visit of the Emperor of Manchukuo to Japan to affirm the close ties of friendship between the two monarchies.

Sugihara Chiune 杉原 千畝

One of the most remarkable men in the Japanese diplomatic corps in World War II was Chiune Sugihara who was also an Orthodox Christian. Born on January 1, 1900 in Yaotsu, Gifu prefecture, he attended Waseda University where he studied English. Throughout his youth he was known as an exceptionally gifted student. After earning a scholarship he was recruited into the Japanese Foreign Ministry and assigned to Harbin, Manchuria where he also studied the Russian and German languages and became an expert in Russian affairs. He did diplomatic work as part of the ongoing problems between Russia and Japan over the rail network in Manchuria which had originally been under the control of Czarist Russia and which the Soviets were trying to reclaim. However, he did resign finally in protest over the way some of his countrymen mistreated the local people. (General Kanji Ishihara later made similar complaints). It was also while in Harbin that Chiune Sugihara converted to Christianity, being baptized into the Eastern Orthodox Church. During these years he also married a Russian woman but the couple later divorced, his wife initiating the divorce, because she did not want to have children. It worked out for the best though as Chiune later returned to Japan and married Yukiko Kikuchi who was a remarkable woman, as upright and devoted as her husband.

杉原幸子

Chiune and Yukiko settled down to a happy family life and over time had four sons. He still worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was sent further abroad to the Japanese delegation in Helsinki, Finland where he worked as a translator. In 1939 Chiune Sugihara was posted to Lithuania as a vice-consul to assist the local diplomat post as well as keeping an eye on German and Japanese troop movements in the region. His family came with him and Yukiko would be a strong and invaluable support to her husband during this time. It was a critical time for the world as war had just broken out in Europe. Germany invaded Poland and a short time later (after Polish resistance was broken) the Soviets invaded from the east and Poland was partitioned between them. This was when the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was in effect between Germany and Russia. One Poland had been conquered and occupied there was immediately a flood of refugees from Poland to Lithuania, many of whom were Jews who were naturally fearful of being under the rule of Nazi Germany. There were also many Jews already in Lithuania and the country was nervous that it would soon be invaded as well as there had been territorial disputes with Germany and the Soviet dictator Stalin had made no secret of his desire to claim all the Baltic countries for the USSR. Many began to appear at the Japanese consulate where Sugihara worked asking for exit visas to escape the country. Chiune Sugihara asked the Japanese government what he should do and three times the government said he could not give the people visas, for the understandable reason that they had not gone through the proper legal process and that Japan was unable to take on large numbers of foreigners when the country was already under great strain.

杉原 千畝

However, more and more Jews appeared, desperate for help and a way to escape and Sugihara felt that he had to do something. He talked to his family and it was agreed that they had to help the Jewish refugees. He said later that, seeing their suffering with his own eyes, there was no way he could ignore their plight and so he decided to take action. "Do what is right because it is right and leave it alone" he said. Acting on his own authority, Sugihara began writing out exit visas in his own hand and giving them to the Jewish refugees. Of course, word spread quickly that the quiet Japanese gentleman in Kovno was handing out exit visas and soon his home was besieged by huge crowds of Jews desperate to escape the advancing German armies. In response, Sugihara worked even harder, writing out exit visas and signing them all day every day without stop. He signed visas for hours on end, while he was eating, all day, every day with Yukiko massaging his sore hands at night. He worked and worked for longer and longer hours writing and signing exit visas for the crowds of refugees who, when given them, were so thankful that many kissed his feet. He also talked to Russian officials who agreed to let the Jews pass safely through the Soviet Union to Japan.

Word finally came that the consulate was being closed and Sugihara was being transferred to Germany. He and his wife stayed up all night before their day of departure, filling out exit visas to the last possible moment. Finally, with time running out, he simply began signing blank pieces of paper so that these could be left behind and filled out by the Jews themselves and used to escape. He left behind his official seal for this purpose. Even as his train was pulling out of town he kept signing visas and passing them out the window to the crowds of people wishing to escape. In all, Chiune Sugihara saved the lives of about 6,000 Jews by his actions. They traveled across Soviet Russia, were taken to Kobe in Japan and were finally relocated to Shanghai in part of China occupied by Japan where they were protected by the Imperial Japanese Army. For Sugihara, he served in Berlin and later other cities in German-occupied Europe, lastly in Bucharest, Romania. When the Soviet Red Army invaded Romania he and his family were arrested and put in prison. This was in 1944 remember, before the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan. After the war was over, Sugihara was finally released with his family and allowed to return home to Japan.

Orthodox Christian icon of Sugihara

As the Empire of Japan was dissolved, to be replaced by the modern State of Japan, Sugihara was dismissed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he settled in Fujisawa to a hard life, as many people had, taking any available job to support his family. He was a very modest and humble man who never talked about the fact that he had saved the lives of thousands of people from certain death. With his country in ruins and going through a difficult transition, it was hard for individual stories like his to gain attention, particularly when the person in question never talked about it. He did what he had thought was the right, moral thing to do according to his Christian values and he never sought any reward or recognition for doing the right thing. However, others remembered, especially the people he saved. His kindness and compassion was the difference between life and death for thousands of people and, with their descendants, tens of thousands. He worked for an export company and finally worked for sixteen years in the Soviet Union, using his knowledge of the Russian language, while his family remained in Japan. When he died in Kamakura in 1986, tributes poured in from around the world. Many of his neighbors were astonished to know that the quiet man next door had saved the lives of thousands of people during the war. He was honored by the State of Israel as one of the "Righteous Gentiles" and his memory has been honored ever since in the Christian community, particularly the Eastern Orthodox, as an example of Christian charity, kindness, humility and compassion. For that, he shall always be remembered.

すべての人をうやまい、兄弟たちを愛し、神をおそれ、王を尊びなさい。

1 Peter 2:17

結婚おめでとう。末永くお幸せに。

Princess Noriko Bids Farewell to His Majesty

Recently, HIH Princess Noriko formally bid farewell to HM the Emperor in preparation for her upcoming marriage which will entail her legally leaving the Japanese Imperial Family.

A Priestly Plan for Japanese and East Asian Security

Bishop Walsh

Prior to the outbreak of the Greater East Asian War, an attempt at Japanese-American reconciliation was made on the initiative of two Catholic priests; Bishop James E. Walsh, (a veteran of much missionary work in China) Superior General of the Maryknoll Society, and his assistant Father James M. Drought. It is important to note the experience Bishop Walsh had in China and his understanding of the threat posed by the communist insurgency (something which many in the United States did not understand). These two men were convinced that the rising tensions between Japan and the United States were ill-founded and unnecessary and that a lasting peace could be arranged by reasonable men on both sides of the Pacific. Knowing the threat posed by the communists in China and recognizing that Japan was the only power placed to deal with this crisis, they hoped that the Roosevelt administration in Washington DC could be shown that, far from being a problem, Japan was the solution in East Asia that America should support.

The two priests traveled to Tokyo and met with Tadao Ikawa, one of the directors of the Central Agricultural and Forestry Bank. They presented him with a memorandum which proposed a Japanese “Far Eastern Monroe Doctrine”. This, of course, was a reference to the Monroe Doctrine which established the American foreign policy that the United States would be neutral to existing European colonies in the Americas but would resist any effort by European powers to interfere in the affairs of the Americas to expand their colonial rule or hinder the newly independent countries established in Central and South America. It laid the ground work for the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain and essentially said that if there were any problems or threats in the Americas it would be the United States that would deal with them and not any non-American powers. The two Catholic priests proposed something similar with the Empire of Japan taking the position in East Asia that the United States took in the Americas.

Look! The cruel injustice of the Communists!

This would mean that the colonial holdings of Europe (the only American holding being The Philippines which was being given its independence) were not to be molested but could not be expanded and that no non-Asian powers could meddle in the affairs of East Asian countries. The Empire of Japan would be responsible for maintaining peace and order in the region and if any problems in East Asia should arise it would be Japan that would deal with them with no interference by non-Asian powers. If this should have also led to a “special relationship” between Japan and the United States, that would probably have been something the priests would have looked forward to. However, there was no doubt that the first problem that had to be dealt with was the spread of communism in China and the two Catholic clerics were adamant that Japan should be supported in taking the initiative to stop this “corroding social disease”, as the memorandum called it, before it became an “epidemic”. Ikawa had worked in the United States as part of the Finance Ministry and was impressed by the idea and confident that Japan would agree to it.

Colonel Iwakuro

The priests assured the Japanese officials that they had the support of leading men in America, which the Japanese assumed to mean President Roosevelt, which was not true, nonetheless Ikawa took the priests to meet with Prime Minister Prince Konoye and Foreign Minister Matsuoka. The Prince sent them to the War Ministry to speak to Colonel Hideo Iwakuro who was known for his position that an alliance with America would be the key to success for Japan. He was also an expert intelligence officer who had set up the Nakano School for intelligence agents and who had saved the lives of five thousand Jewish refugees by allowing them into Manchuria, persuading the Kwantung Army leadership that as it had been a Jewish-American firm that loaned Japan the money needed to win the war against Russia, abandoning them would be dishonorable. He introduced the priests to General Akira Muto, head of the Military Affairs Bureau who approved of their plan and gave it his full support.

At the start of 1941 the two priests returned to America in the hope of finding as much support in Washington as they had in Tokyo. Their first supporter was the Postmaster General, Frank C. Walker, one of the most prominent Catholics in America. He arranged for the priests to finally meet with President Roosevelt and Bishop Walsh presented his memorandum to the President. Unfortunately, when it came to Japan, Roosevelt seemed unwilling to ever take any action without the approval of his Secretary of State Cordell Hull who had an undeniable prejudice against Japan. Hull voiced skepticism in a note written by his senior advisor on Far Eastern Affairs Dr. Stanley Hornbeck who was one of the most anti-Japanese and pro-Chinese members of the administration. Still, Roosevelt empowered Walker to act as his agent in pursuing the idea. Likewise, in Japan, Colonel Iwakuro was dispatched to the United States with the support of General Hideki Tojo. He went to St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and met with Bishop Walsh where he was met with the disappointing news that the Roosevelt administration had decided that the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy prevented any such American agreement with Japan and Japan would not betray German and Italy. Colonel Iwakuro was also met with resistance by the Japanese diplomats in America who saw his actions as the Imperial Army interfering in matters that should be handled by their own office.

As negotiations went on the original intent of the memorandum, of the Japanese “Far Eastern Monroe Doctrine” was all but forgotten as the focus shifted almost entirely to China and the proposal that Japan withdraw all troops from China in exchange for the Republic of China recognizing the independence of the Empire of Manchukuo and forming a sort of coalition government with the rival regime of Wang Ching-wei. The American State Department, under Hull, rejected the proposal almost completely. To make matters worse, however, Hull gave the Japanese ambassador, Admiral Nomura, the impression that the proposal would be a basis for future negotiations when in fact he had no intention of doing so and the result was a long, fruitless series of negotiations or attempted negotiations that achieved nothing but to increase bitterness in Japan that the Roosevelt administration was not acting in good faith but was simply trying to put off the Japanese while Japan grew weaker and American forces in the region grew stronger. Which was, sadly, entirely correct. However, why does this history matter to us today? What can we learn from the peace efforts of two Catholic priests in 1941?

The relevance of this to the present time is that the basic idea put forward in their memorandum, of a “Far Eastern Monroe Doctrine” supervised by Japan is a viable foreign policy position today. In fact, there is far more likelihood of such a policy being workable today or at least in the near future than there was in 1941. The biggest question today would be whether or not the Japanese people are willing to take up the responsibility for East Asia. If there is the will in Japan to pursue such a policy, there is no reason why it could not be implemented. Unlike in 1941, there seems little doubt that such a move would have the full backing of the United States, Great Britain, Australia and most of the Southeast Asian countries. Of course, colonialism is no longer an issue but those portions could be replaced with similar assurances dealing with existing defensive alliances. Also, just as in the original memorandum, the preeminent focus of such a doctrine would be the communist forces in China who, unhappily, now happen to control much more than they did in 1941. Suppressing them would not be immediately possible but such a doctrine would allow for the containment of their expansionist impulses and a revived and involved Japan would be the power best placed to do it.

The biggest difference between today and 1941 is that the danger of Communist China has been demonstrated. In 1941, few of the major powers other than Japan took the threat seriously. The United States, most importantly, saw the China Incident only as the Japanese on one side and China on the other whereas, in fact, the Japanese government stated a willingness to make peace with the nationalists, even for the United States to broker that peace, and withdraw from China (Manchukuo being independent) so long as Japanese forces remained where necessary to deal with the communist insurgency. The United States chose to take the side of China and oppose Japan, the other major powers following along. However, though the American government would never openly admit it, American policy and actions have demonstrated that they understand that this was a mistake because today the United States supports Japan and opposes China, even more so than the Republic of China on Taiwan. Whereas in 1941 the Roosevelt administration was suspicious of Japan, today both the major political parties in the United States have welcomed the new policy of collective self-defense proposed by Prime Minister Abe and have encouraged Japan to strengthen the Self-Defense Forces. Today, the United States wants Japan to play a larger part in ensuring the peace and stability of East Asia.

This would be the perfect time for Japan to begin the shift to this new doctrine. The support for collective self-defense measures has been growing and more people on both sides of the Pacific have wanted Japan to take a more active part in its own self-defense. Japan is also protected by the most powerful and advanced military in the world, the United States, and so would be able to build up its own military strength in safety until fully prepared to take on this larger responsibility for the region. Australia has expressed its support for Japan strengthening the armed forces and other countries in the region could be expected to go along with it due to the growing fears of communist Chinese expansion. Under this doctrine it would be the duty of a revitalized Japan to keep communist aggression contained and to deal with any problems in East Asia that pose a threat to the security and stability of the region. The recent increased closeness between Russia and China would also be a reason why America and Europe would probably support such a doctrine for a more prominent Japan to keep watch over the region. To put it in terms that the two priests in 1941 might appreciate, Japan would be the “guardian angel” of East Asia in the same way that the United States is in the Americas and NATO is in Europe. Given the political climate of today, there is no reason why such a plan could not work, it would only require the Japanese public to be awakened to supporting a much larger and more assertive role for Japan on the world stage.

Russia Insults Japan

As reported in this article from the BBC, Japan has imposed sanctions on Russia, in concert with most of the rest of the Free World after the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin sent one of his closest aides to visit the Northern Territories, reaffirming Russia's determination to hold on to these parts of Japanese territory. Prime Minister Abe, in a rather naive move, had been trying very hard to win the friendship and approval of Russia in the hope that they would begin serious discussions about returning the Northern Territories to Japan after illegally seizing them at the end of World War II. Japan had held off from enacting the sanctions agreed to by other leading countries in the world for fear of offending Russia over the incursions into Ukraine at a time when the Abe government was trying to win favor with President Putin. Now, Russia has made it clear that they will make no concessions and have even insulted Japan on the world stage by saying that Japan is incapable of managing its own foreign affairs. Clearly, however, the only mistake made here was Abe thinking that he gain anything from the President of Russia.

The entire thing was a naive and useless exercise. What Russia wants in the short term is a market to sell its energy and weapons and in East Asia the massive population of China means that they have a far larger market than Japan, with its smaller and rapidly shrinking population, could ever have. Additionally, when it comes to weapons, Japan already has or has access to far superior weaponry than what could be purchased from the Russians. So, Russia has drawn closer and closer to China and as Chinese influence in Moscow increases so it becomes more assured that Russia would never show any consideration to Japan. Russia has handed over hundreds of square kilometers of territory to Communist China but will not budge at all on the issue of the Northern Territories with Japan. The simple fact is that there is nothing Japan has that Russia really needs and it is in the interests of Russia to keep Japan dangling on promises, to keep Tokyo trying to please Moscow and this latest "charm offensive" by Abe has sent the signal, unfortunately, to Russia that Japan will make concessions in exchange for nothing concrete but merely the hope of something in the future.

So, Russia has come out looking stronger and even goes the extra step to speak out in such a way to humiliate Japan as much as possible. Without conceding anything, Russia was able to exploit the hope of the Abe government to induce Japan to break ranks with her closest allies to hold off on actual sanctions in exchange for nothing but the possibility of future good will. Then, after Japan had gone out on a limb in diplomatic terms to try to keep Russia happy, the Russians have slammed the door in Abe's face and publicly humiliated Japan which is now rushing to catch up and join in the sanctions regime that was given little more than lip-service in the beginning. The problem between Japan and Russia is a fundamental and long-term one that really neither side can do anything about, which is why there has been almost constant friction between the two countries since they first came into contact with each other. In the long-term, problems between the two countries come down to geography. As always, Russia would still like a warm-water port or the exclusive use of a warm-water port on the Pacific. This has been a driving goal of Russian foreign policy in East Asia for centuries. However, the problem is that even if Russia managed to gain such a port from China or Korea, Japan is still placed geographically to shut off access to such a port and render it useless. This is why Russia once tried to seize Tsushima island and it is why, so long as geography is the way it is, Japan will find it impossible to please Russia without giving Russian security and national interest priority over those of Japan.

Honorable Enemies Become Lasting Friends

Anyone who studies the late war in the Pacific will know the name of American Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. It was Admiral Nimitz who led the American naval campaign that ultimately forced Japanese forces out of the South Pacific area. However, Admiral Nimitz was not someone who was anti-Japanese and after the war worked to make sure that America and Japan became fast friends. (Especially after the communist victory in the Chinese civil war, many in the US began to realize that favoring China over Japan in their foreign policy had been a costly mistake) He was very forthright in his opinions and did not hesitate to say in public that there was no military justification for using nuclear weapons against Japan. He told the New York Times newspaper that Japan had already started to try to make peace with the United States before Hiroshima was bombed and so the use of atomic weapons had no impact on the Japanese defeat. Also, Admiral Nimitz, as a student of naval history, had great respect for the naval forces of Japan and particularly admired the great Admiral Heihachiro Togo, famous all over the world for his stunning victory over the Russian Imperial Navy. After World War II, the flagship of Admiral Togo, the Mikasa, had deteriorated badly and Admiral Nimitz joined with the Japan Times to lead a campaign to restore this historic battleship of symbol of Japanese national pride. The campaign was a success and the ship is again on public display today in Yokosuka.

Later on, military and civilian leaders in Japan wanted to show their appreciation for what Admiral Nimitz had done for Japanese-American reconciliation and to do so in a way that reflected his great respect for Admiral Togo. To do this, they had built in Fredericksburg, Texas (the hometown of Admiral Nimitz) a traditional Japanese garden identical to that of his hero Admiral Togo which is called the "Garden of Peace". Today this garden is part of the Admiral Nimitz Museum and the National Museum of the Pacific War in the small hill country town of Fredericksburg. Admittance is free for all veterans of World War II, whether American or Japanese.