Sugihara Chiune: Why Not Ambassador To America/Israel ?

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Sugihara Chine was a Japaense diplomat who risked his carrier to save thousands of Jewish refugees in WWII.

Fig. Sugihara Chiune

This is a schematic picture. The interested reader can click the following site for real image:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/japans-schindler-a-genuine-hero-tangled-in-a-web-of-myth/

Hainry Rubinstein, a Jewish American resided in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visited Japan ten times in the 20th century [1]. He was a Rabbi and businessman.  Each time, he accompanied 20-30 Americans for sightseen Japan. Hatta Saburo, a Japanese man, was a tour guide for those Americans to see Japan. He heard intriguing story from Rubinstein:

All the Sugihara survivors in America thanked Sugihara. Since Japan was the enemy of America, existence of such individual was unthinkable. We believe Sugihara one of the most appropriate individuals for the ambassador to America. That way, US-Japan relationship would have been restored much sooner. Through the lobbyist at the White Hose, they approached prime ministers Yoshida and Shidehara, however, no response from the Japanese government. [1]

In my view, America should have used her influence to let Sugihara become the ambassador. I still don’t understand why America didn’t because they could do anything they wanted. That way America could have been regarded as a country which appreciates honor and dignity even with former enemy. Further, Sugihara would have felt his honor restored at least partly.

I am well aware that one should remember that there may be many factors involved in such decisions, including political considerations and diplomatic relations between countries.

I have another conviction to the effect that America should advice Japanese government to appoint Sugihara the first ambassador to Israel. That would make the relationship between Japan and Israel much smoother thereby good relationships with many countries where Jewish community has strong presence. This could have been another path that makes Sugihara restore his honor and dignity.

[1] Watanabe, K., and Sugihara, K., “Ketsudan”, Taisho Shuppan, Tokyo, 2001, Third printing.

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