How did Japan deploy diplomacy in the extreme circumstances of World War II and during the occupation of the Allied Powers?

This essay focuses on the transformation of MOFA’s role and organization while exploring how the ministry attempted to implement external policies in the mid-twentieth century.

MOFA’s diplomatic role during the war was not prioritized above the Japanese government’s military operations of the Army and the Navy, so wartime diplomacy had little impact.

Nevertheless, Japan did maintain or establish diplomatic relations with Manchukuo, the Nanjing Nationalist Government by Wang Jingwei, Siam, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and other countries like Burma and the Philippines, which became independent during the war ⁽¹⁾.

Italy also carried out diplomatic relations with Japan until declaring war on the archipelago upon surrender to the Allied powers.

And, Japan maintained diplomatic relations with six neutral powers including Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal, the Vatican, Ireland, and Afghanistan.

Japan also kept diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union until Moscow declared war against Tokyo towards the end of World War Two.

In cases where states terminated diplomatic relations with, or declared war against, Japan, the nation closed diplomatic missions in those countries and withdrew diplomats in exchange and repatriation ships.

Consequently, on behalf of Japan, neutral powers such as Switzerland and Sweden served as agents for protecting Japanese nationals and properties in other countries upon request of the Japanese government ⁽²⁾.

With a decreasing diplomatic reach especially from the 1930s, MOFA’s grip on diplomatic policy was gradually cut off.

December 15, 1938, the Japanese Cabinet set up the Koain Board of Asia Development, which was responsible for administration of occupied territories in mainland China ⁽³⁾.

MOFA’s service for cultural programs to China in its Cultural Program Division was moved into Koain ⁽⁴⁾.

Subsequently, on December 5, 1940, MOFA’s Intelligence Division was incorporated into the Intelligence Agency of the Cabinet when it was launched to consolidate similar activities ⁽⁵⁾.

Moreover, when the Japanese government set up the Ministry of Greater East Asia on November 1, 1942, the newly-established ministry took over most affairs concerned with administration of the occupied territories in Asia (except Korea, Taiwan and Sakhalin) ⁽⁶⁾.

MOFA defended their jurisdiction over purely diplomatic affairs, but the Ministry of Greater East Asia absorbed MOFA’s East Asia Bureau and South Sea Bureau ⁽⁷⁾.

Consequently, the structure and size of MOFA drastically decreased from six to four bureaus, and from 607 senior civil servants and 918 noncommissioned officials as of October 1940 to roughly half at 377 senior civil servants and 389 noncommissioned officials in August 1943.

MOFA had to go through with further downsizing and maintain its limited organization and staff by restructuring sections and reducing officials in a series of administrative reforms.

MOFA attempted to conduct wartime diplomacy despite challenges, tackling issues of imperial rule and the independence of Japanese occupied territories including Indonesia and the Philippines.

MOFA also arranged and managed the Greater East Asia Conference of November 1943.

About wartime alliances, under the powerful leadership of Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, MOFA concluded treaties with the Wang Jingwei regime (October 30, 1943) ⁽⁸⁾, the State of Burma (August 1, 1943) ⁽⁹⁾ and the Philippines (October 14, 1943) ⁽¹⁰⁾.

In the final phase of the war, MOFA also attempted to work Russia to serve as a mediator between Japan and the Allied Powers.

However, important agendas in Japanese wartime diplomacy could not escape from interventions from the country’s own military, particularly through the Liaison Conference of the Imperial Headquarters and the Government or the Supreme War Council.

Consequently, MOFA’s diplomatic efforts for termination of the war through Russia eventually failed and Japan had to surrender to the Allied Powers.

In the postwar period, as Japan was placed under the control of the Allied Powers, Japanese diplomatic authorities were also restricted.

Since Japan had diplomatic relations with six neutral powers during the war (Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal, the Vatican, Ireland, and Afghanistan), diplomats hoped that they could maintain official relations with those countries even in the occupation period.

But on November 4, 1945, the Japanese government received a SCAPIN - directive from the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) - of “Official Relations between Japanese Government and Representatives of Neutral Nations” to terminate Japan’s diplomatic relations with those countries.

On December 2, 1946, the Japanese government was prohibited to have any direct contact with diplomatic missions including the Allied Powers or neutral states.

This meant suspension of Japan’s diplomatic authorities, after which Japanese external activities were conducted through or by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP) on behalf of the Japanese government.

MOFA’s role and organization were transformed by the Allied occupation after the hostilities of WWII, and MOFA gradually regained diplomatic functions.

First, on August 26, 1945, the Japanese government abolished the Ministry of Greater East Asia ⁽¹¹⁾, and transferred administration of the Territorial Government of South Sea Islands and the Guandong (Kwantung) Bureau in that ministry to MOFA.

MOFA was responsible for affairs concerned with the Japanese citizens and properties in Manchuria, China and Southeast Asia ⁽¹²⁾.

On December 31, 1945, by abolition of the Cabinet Intelligence Bureau, MOFA reestablished the Intelligence Bureau, as in the prewar period, to be in charge of intelligence, news and international cultural programs ⁽¹³⁾.

On January 30, 1946, the Ministry of Home Affairs passed the jurisdiction of Sakhalin, Korean and Taiwanese affairs to MOFA ⁽¹⁴⁾.

And on March 1, 1946, MOFA launched the Training Institute for Diplomatic Officers as a training facility for professional diplomats, which would become the current Foreign Service Training Institute of MOFA.

After a series of further reorganizations for functional development, MOFA was essentially restructured by the Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of June 1, 1949, to transform its organizational foundation as a governmental ministry based on imperial decrees into that on legal foundations ⁽¹⁵⁾.

MOFA’s missions provided by this act included “accrediting and receiving diplomatic missions and consular officials,” “concluding treaties and other international agreements,” “participating in international organizations and international conferences,” and setting up Japanese overseas establishments.

In this sense, it assumed that MOFA would recover ordinary diplomatic authorities after the end of the occupation period.

And for the purpose of smooth operations and the management of Allied control over Japan, on August 26, 1945, the Japanese government established the Liaison Office, as an external institution of MOFA, to serve as a contact point between Japan, the Occupation Forces and the GHQ/SCAP ⁽¹⁶⁾.

After the Liaison Office of MOFA was abolished and transferred to the Liaison Office as an external organization of the Prime Minister’s Agency on January 31, 1948 ⁽¹⁷⁾, the liaison affairs were returned again to the newly-established Liaison Bureau of MOFA on June 1, 1949 ⁽¹⁵⁾.

Later, MOFA set up the International Cooperation Bureau on December 1, 1951 ⁽¹⁸⁾, in a transitional period from concluding the San Francisco Peace Treaty of September 1951 to the end of the Allied Occupation, and this bureau was in charge of the liaison affairs with GHQ/SCAP until the end of the occupation in April 1952.

About Japan’s diplomatic missions overseas, Japan had to close its overseas establishments because of suspension of diplomatic authorities.

On October 25, 1945, Japan was ordered to pass over all the public papers and properties in its overseas establishments to the Allied Powers by a directive of the GHQ/SCAP.

Japan closed all the diplomatic missions in those 6 neutral countries from November 1945 to 1946, and had no official overseas establishments for a long time.

On February 9, 1950, however, in the final phase of the occupation in which Japan would fully recover sovereignty and return to the international society in the near future, the GHQ/SCAP gave the Japanese government a memorandum of opening its diplomatic offices overseas.

Upon this directive, Japan established its diplomatic offices for the first time in the postwar period initially in 4 cities in the United States (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu).

Since the Japanese government promulgated the “Act of Establishment of Diplomatic Offices of the Japanese Government” on April 19, 1950 ⁽¹⁹⁾, Japan set up its diplomatic offices one after another which amounted to 30 offices including 6 in America, 3 in India, 2 in Brazil and Indonesia each, and 1 in Britain, France, Sweden and other countries each by the end of September 1951 ⁽²⁰⁾.

Similarly, Japan was also excluded from international organizations in the early years of the occupation.

But from 1948, Japan began to participate in international organizations and conferences about technical matters upon approval by the GHQ/SCAP.

Even during the Allied Occupation period, Japan became an official member of the Universal Postal Convention (UPC: September 24, 1948), International Telecommunication Convention (ITU: January 24, 1949), International Convention for Regulation of Whaling (ICRW: April 21, 1951), World Health Organization Constitution (WHO: May 16, 1951), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Constitution (UNESCO: July 2, 1951), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Constitution (FAO: November 21, 1951), and International Labor Organization (ILO: November 26, 1951).

Japan fully recovered its diplomatic authorities when the Allied control of Japan was over on April 28, 1952, by enforcement of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of September 8, 1951 ⁽²¹⁾.

Since then, Japan has been increasing its diplomatic presence by gaining official membership in major international organizations such as the United Nations (December 18, 1956) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD: April 28, 1964), while expanding the diplomatic network of its overseas establishments in most countries and international organizations.

(Daisuke Hayashi, Researcher at JACAR)
(*This essay is based on the author's own opinions and does not represent the official views of the center.)