Morito Morishima

Morito Morishima entered the Foreign Ministry in 1919 after studying German law at Tokyo Imperial University. He served in Manchuria, including as acting consul general at Mukden and consul general at Harbin, and later worked in Germany and China. He became counselor at the Washington embassy in 1939. ¹

Morishima dealt with the tightening American restrictions on exports to Japan. In July 1940, he questioned State Department officials about reports that scrap iron and steel would require export licenses and stressed the importance Tokyo attached to continued access. American officials declined to disclose confidential deliberations and said that national defense needs would determine the restrictions. He also served as chargé during the embassy's transition between ambassadors. ^{2, 3}

Morishima subsequently became consul general in New York and minister to Portugal, retiring from diplomacy in 1946. He entered electoral politics in 1955 and won three terms in the House of Representatives for the Japan Socialist Party. His books included accounts of conspiracy and assassination in Japanese diplomacy and recollections of Pearl Harbor, Lisbon, and Tokyo. ¹