was a Japanese

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and career

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official.

Hideaki Kase was a Japanese diplomatic critic known for promoting historical negationism. His father, Toshikazu Kase, was a diplomat under Shigenori Tōgō who negotiated an end to the Pacific war. Yoko Ono is his cousin. Revisionist organizations Kase wa ...

is his son and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

is his niece. Surrender of Japan - USS Missouri

Biography

Kase was born in Chiba, Japan, from a family of upper-class landowners.Obituary in "The Telegraph" of June 3, 2004 After passing his Foreign Service Examination in 1925 he left Tokyo Higher Commercial College (later

Hitotsubashi University , formerly known as , is a national university, national research university in Tokyo, Japan. Often regarded as Japan’s foremost institution for the study of the social sciences, particularly commerce, economics, law, political science, sociolog ...

) and attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

as a Research Fellow, graduating in 1927. He had a son,

(19362022), who became a diplomatic critic in promoting Japanese WWII historical revisionism books and films. He took up diplomatic posts in both

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

before returning to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

where he was posted to the North America desk of the Japanese Foreign Office. He was on duty on the weekend of the

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

attack in December 1941. Acting as secretary to Foreign Minister

Shigenori Togo Shigenori (written: , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese writer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese general *Shigenori Mori (born 1958), Japanese golfer *, J ...

, Kase had assisted in the preparation of the document formally terminating negotiations with the United States. In an interview after retirement, he blamed Japanese diplomats in Washington for delays in decoding and delivering the cabled text of the statement, which he claimed should have been delivered an hour prior to the beginning of the attack. On September 2, 1945, Kase was present as part of the Japanese delegation on board USS ''Missouri'' for the signing of the treaty of surrender in 1945. At his suggestion Foreign Minister

Mamoru Shigemitsu was a Japanese diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs three times during and after World War II and as Deputy Prime Minister. As a civilian plenipotentiary representing the Japanese government, Shigemitsu cosigned the Japanese In ...

and other civilian members of the party wore formal diplomatic attire of morning dress and top hats "because we were representing our sovereign" (an exception to this was Saburo Ota, who wore no hat and whose white suit contrasted with other civilian members' mostly black morning dress). Kase had drafted the English text of the document accepting the terms of the

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, ...

. Kase continued to work in the Foreign Ministry until 1948 when he left to practice journalism. In 1950 Kase published a book that gave an account of the war from a Japanese perspective.''Journey to the Missouri'', Kase, Toshikazu & Rowe, David Nelson, Eds, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1950.
Synopsis from Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
Resuming his diplomatic career in 1954, Kase took up an appointment as chief advisor to the same foreign minister whom he had assisted at the surrender ceremony on board the USS Missouri. In 1955 he became Japan's first

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. His final diplomatic posting, before retiring in 1960, was as ambassador to Belgrade. Kase was interviewed in English for the 1970s documentary series ''

The World at War ''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. Produced in 1973 at a cost of around £880,000 (), it was the most expensive factual series ever made at the time. ...

''. Kase died, aged 101 years, in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

, of heart failure.Pearson, Natalie Obiko,
Toshikazu Kase, Japanese Diplomat in War, Peace
. ''Chicago Sun-Times'', June 1, 2004.

References

Other sources

* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kase, Toshikazu 1903 births 2004 deaths Ambassadors of Japan to Yugoslavia Amherst College alumni Harvard Fellows Hitotsubashi University alumni Japanese men centenarians Japanese people of World War II Japanese writers People from Chiba (city) Permanent representatives of Japan to the United Nations

Biography

See also

References

Other sources