Kichisaburō Nomura

Kichisaburō Nomura spent most of his early career in the navy. Born in Wakayama in 1877, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1898, served in the Russo-Japanese War, and held assignments in Austria, Germany, and the United States. As naval attaché in Washington during the First World War, he developed contacts that later made him a candidate for difficult negotiations with American leaders. ^{1, 2}

Nomura attended the Paris peace conference and the Washington naval conference, rose to admiral, and commanded major naval formations. In 1932 he lost his right eye in a bombing in Shanghai. After entering the reserve, he became head of Gakushūin and briefly served as foreign minister in 1939–1940. He sought to improve relations with the United States as the commercial treaty between the two countries approached expiration. ^{1, 2}

Appointed ambassador in the crisis preceding the Pacific War, Nomura spent 1941 negotiating with President Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull. The talks failed to reconcile the two governments' positions. On December 7 he delivered Japan's final memorandum to Hull at 2:20 p.m., Washington time. Hull's public statement that day emphasized that Japan's attack had already begun before the memorandum arrived. ^{2, 3, 4}

Nomura returned to Japan in 1942 and later served on the Privy Council. Barred from public office during the occupation, he reentered public life after the restriction ended, became president of Japan Victor, and won election to the House of Councillors in 1954. He remained a legislator until his death in 1964. His papers are held by the National Diet Library. ¹