Kaname Wakasugi, the Diplomat Who Tried to Prevent War

For decades, the name Kaname Wakasugi has existed in the margins of Japanese diplomatic history, mentioned occasionally, understood rarely, and almost never taught. Yet Wakasugi's life, as newly recounted by his grandson, Masaki Wakasugi, in a far-reaching interview with JAPAN Forward, reveals a man whose intelligence work, linguistic abilities, and diplomatic instincts positioned him at the center of some of the most volatile currents of the mid-20th century.

His story, largely forgotten even by his own relatives, offers a powerful reminder of how easily national memory can fade, and how urgently it must be preserved.

Chance Encounter

Masaki, who is not a direct descendant but belongs to a parallel branch of the Wakasugi family, first encountered Kaname Wakasugi's legacy almost by accident. Years ago, after returning from Tokyo to his native Kumamoto, he was informed during a family gathering that an old kakeizu, a detailed family registry, had been carried away by a relative who became a diplomat and had never been returned. When relatives discovered he lived near Tokyo, he was assigned a simple mission: go retrieve it. That task led him directly to the home of Wakasugi's daughter, Chieko, then around 80 years old.

Her shock was immediate. "I never imagined there were still Wakasugi family members living in Kumamoto," she reportedly exclaimed. Their meeting blossomed into emotional conversation and marked the start of Masaki's long, self-motivated investigation into Wakasugi's life. But just a few years later, Chieko passed away, leaving behind no children, and leaving the family's already-fragmented memory of Kaname Wakasugi even fainter.

Yet Masaki persisted. He visited the Tama Cemetery, where Wakasugi is buried, investigating who maintained the grave ー and why so little was known. He discovered that even within the extended family, interest in Wakasugi was sparse. "I want people to know who he was," he said, "but my relatives aren't interested. That's the hardest part."

The Making of a Diplomat

Tracing Wakasugi's early years, Masaki traveled to Aichi University's Toyohashi campus, the successor to the Toa Dobun Shoin. This was an elite academy created to cultivate Japan's China specialists. There, he learned that students were pushed to develop independent thinking through long, self-organized domestic study trips and were expected to acquire deep cultural and linguistic competence. Wakasugi's cohort, he noted, stressed self-reliance, information-gathering, and cross-cultural navigation, skills that would later define his diplomatic career.

Though originally a commercial student, Wakasugi was encouraged to pursue a broader international role. He mastered Chinese during his time associated with Dobun Shoin and later completed studies at two American universities, including Oregon State and a New York institution, to strengthen his English.

Only at 35 did he finally enter the Japanese diplomatic service, an unusually late start that reflected both ambition and hardship. According to family understanding, his rise involved "enormous struggle," not the effortless ascent some relatives had once assumed.

An Intelligence Officer in Turbulent Times

One of Wakasugi's most consequential contributions lay in intelligence reporting. During his service in the United States before World War II, he compiled extensive reports on communist influence in American labor unions, humanitarian organizations, and even prominent figures like Helen Keller. These reports, written between 1938 and 1940, remained classified for decades.

Masaki expressed awe at what these documents implied about Wakasugi's work:

"These weren't just bureaucratic investigations…To gather that kind of information, you had to enter their circles, earn their trust. If discovered, it could have cost him his life."

He recalled visiting locations in Tokyo associated with modern Chinese intelligence operations, drawing analogies to the risks Wakasugi likely faced. "Just walking near one facility, I felt uneasy. To imagine him entering such networks under surveillance… it must have been life-and-death work."

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Department searched this building in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward in May 2023. It was believed to be the home to one of China's "overseas police stations." The business there at the time has moved, and the owner of the building has also changed. (@Sankei by Masanori Hashimoto)

Warnings Unheeded

Among his clearest findings, Wakasugi warned Tokyo that communist agitation was manipulating US public opinion and that Japan should avoid severing relations with America. As history shows, these warnings were ignored as the government pursued increasingly anti-American policies. Did the family ever speak of his frustration?

"No," the grandson replied. "But I know he never abandoned his duty. Stories that he was at a ‘housewarming party' during the outbreak of war were simply untrue － probably propaganda. He was working tirelessly to prevent conflict."

Wakasugi passed away in December 1943, two years after Pearl Harbor and before the war's end. His grandson believes the strain of his efforts weighed heavily on him. "He died without seeing the outcome. I suspect the burden was immense."

A Legacy Overlooked

Despite his achievements, Wakasugi's contributions remain obscure. The grandson distributed books about him, including works by researchers like Michio Ezaki, but few read them. "It's difficult," he said. "People know figures like Tokugawa Ieyasu, so their stories resonate. With Wakasugi, there is no common reference point."

He believes postwar education, influenced by left-leaning narratives, contributed to the neglect of figures like Wakasugi, and other men who resisted communist influence and sought to preserve Japanese-American relations.

Even so, he hopes scholarly work and international interest will eventually correct the record. "When the English edition of the reports is published, his significance will spread. It just takes someone willing to shine a light."

Why His Story Matters

Asked what modern readers can learn from Kaname Wakasugi's life, the grandson returned to two themes: the danger of foreign influence and the importance of calm, disciplined judgment. Wakasugi, he explained, practiced meditation and cultivated a warrior's self-control, qualities indispensable for someone engaged in high-risk intelligence work.

"He could see the whole picture," he said, pointing to group photos where Wakasugi consistently stood at the edge, observing everything. His multifaceted talents, linguistic fluency, and moral clarity suggest that had he survived the war, he might have influenced Japan's postwar path far more directly.

Author: Daniel Manning