Hiroshi Saitō

Hiroshi Saitō (1886–1939) joined the Foreign Ministry in 1910 and served in Washington, Paris, New York, and the Netherlands. During his first Washington assignment, beginning in 1911, he became acquainted with Franklin Roosevelt, then assistant secretary of the navy. He returned as ambassador in 1934, bringing substantial experience of American political and social life. ^{1, 2}

Saitō used speeches and his book Japan’s Policies and Purposes to explain and defend Tokyo’s foreign policy as relations deteriorated over Japan’s war in China. After Japanese aircraft sank the American gunboat Panay in December 1937, he broadcast an apology nationwide without waiting for instructions from Tokyo. ¹

Illness forced Saitō to resign in autumn 1938, and he died in Washington on 26 February 1939. Roosevelt arranged for the cruiser USS Astoria to carry his ashes home. The ship reached Yokohama on 17 April, where its honor guard accompanied the remains ashore. In October 1940, Saitō’s wife and children presented a stone pagoda to the U.S. Naval Academy in gratitude for the American ceremonies and the return of his ashes. ²