Our Man In Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor

by Steve Kemper

Overview

Winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Dillon Book Award

"Gripping history, offering both drama and suspense." —Wall Street Journal

A riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war.

In 1932, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed, and propaganda campaigns swept the country, urging schoolchildren to give money to procure planes and tanks. 

Into this maelstrom stepped Joseph C. Grew, America’s most experienced and talented diplomat. When Grew was appointed ambassador to Japan, not only was the country in turmoil, its relationship with America was rapidly deteriorating. For the next decade, Grew attempted to warn American leaders about the risks of Japan’s raging nationalism and rising militarism, while also trying to stabilize Tokyo’s increasingly erratic and volatile foreign policy. From domestic terrorism by Japanese extremists to the global rise of Hitler and the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor, the events that unfolded during Grew’s tenure proved to be pivotal for Japan, and for the world. His dispatches from the darkening heart of the Japanese empire would prove prescient—for his time, and for our own.  

Drawing on Grew’s diary of his time in Tokyo as well as U.S. embassy correspondence, diplomatic dispatches, and firsthand Japanese accounts, Our Man in Tokyo brings to life a man who risked everything to avert another world war, the country where he staked it all—and the abyss that swallowed it. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358066705
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	607,874
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steve Kemper is a journalist and the author of A Labyrinth of Kingdoms: 10,000 Miles through Islamic Africa, A Splendid Savage: The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham, and Code Name Ginger. He has written for Smithsonian, National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, Outside, Wall Street Journal, Yankee, National Wildlife, The Ecologist, Plenty, BBC Wildlife, and many other magazines and newspapers. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut. 

Hometown:

West Hartford, Connecticut

Date of Birth:

November 25, 1951

Place of Birth:

Louisville, Kentucky

Education:

B.A., University of Detroit, 1973; Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1980

Website:

http://www.stevekemper.net

Table of Contents

List of Characters xi

Prologue 1

1 The Mission Begins 7

2 Settling In 17

3 Temblors 23

4 A Rash of Espionage 29

5 A Year of Small Fires 39

6 Keeping His Shirt On 45

7 Lovers and Patriots 51

8 Bison and Nazis 57

9 A Deceptive Calm 63

10 A Cabinet Falls 69

11 A Swashbuckling Temper 75

12 Phobias 83

13 A Purge, an Organ, Another Assassination 91

14 Insurrection 99

15 A Lull 105

16 A Pact 111

17 Kokutai 117

18 Quagmire 125

19 Bombing, Regrets, Bombing, Regrets 133

20 The Panay Incident 141

21 Strenuous Stasis 149

22 Appeasement 157

23 A New Order 163

24 Maneuvers from All Directions 171

25 Abrogation 179

26 Gallons of Vinegar 187

27 The Horse's Mouth 191

28 Fire-Eaters on All Sides 201

29 A Golden Opportunity 207

30 Hell-Bent Toward the Axis 217

31 The Matsuoka Hurricane 223

32 Green Light 231

33 A Grim and Cruel Year 241

34 Darkening 249

35 A Rumor of Pearl 257

36 Negotiations 265

37 Bad Drafts 275

38 Too Much Matsuoka 281

39 A Betrayal and a Purge 289

40 The Freeze 295

41 The Crossroads of Peace and War 301

42 Rough Winds and Waves 309

43 Tense Silence 317

44 Kabuki 323

45 A Deadline for Diplomacy 331

46 Offerings 339

47 Decision for War 345

48 Infamy 353

49 Back Home 361

Acknowledgments 367

Notes 369

Selected Bibliography 405

Index 409

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/10/2022

The high stakes of international diplomacy are revealed in this captivating history from journalist Kemper (A Splendid Savage). Appointed U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1932, Joseph Grew spent nearly a decade in a doomed effort to maintain peace between the two nations. Following the invasion of China in 1931, the hard-right tilt of Japanese politics urging military conquest became relentless, Kemper explains, infecting all levels of government and insinuating itself into Emperor Hirohito’s court. Though he never learned to speak Japanese, Grew was popular in Japan, and grasped that neither the moderate, pro-Western politicians with whom he forged close relationships, nor the vast majority of Japanese people, desired the cataclysmic endgame promised by the country’s rabid militarists. His diplomatic efforts were hamstrung, however, by U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s “foreordained certainty that the Japanese were incapable of anything except treachery.” Despite the tumult of Japanese politics, which included coup attempts, assassinations, and increasingly repressive domestic laws, Grew refused to give up on the idea that war could be averted, and made a “last-minute appeal” to the Japanese foreign minister just hours before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Expertly marshaled from Grew’s diaries and reports, this is a poignant and profound look at diplomacy in action. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Our Man in Tokyo is meticulously researched, and Mr. Kemper mines Grew's diaries and other primary sources to great effect. . . . It is gripping history, offering both drama and suspense, even when we all know how the story will end." — Wall Street Journal

"Expertly marshaled from Grew’s diaries and reports, this is a poignant and profound look at diplomacy in action." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“As the US ambassador to Putin’s Russia in the run-up to their first invasion of Ukraine, I found Our Man in Tokyo eerily familiar. Kemper’s book is the essential history of an ambassador’s efforts to preserve peace prior to World War II—a must-read if we’re to learn from history and avoid repeating it.” — Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia and New York Times bestselling author of From Cold War to Hot Peace

“Richly detailed narrative . . . . compelling . . . . A fine account of an American diplomat who did his best to contain Japanese ambitions in the run-up to World War II.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Steve Kemper’s splendid portrait of the American ambassador to Japan during the lead-up to World War II will be of interest to a wide range of history lovers." — BookPage (starred review)

"An insightful and highly readable account of the lead up to Pearl Harbor. ... Excellent. ... Has a relevance to contemporary times that is most intriguing and gives the book an added value.” — Roman Popadiuk, president of the Diplomacy Center Foundation and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, in The Cipher Brief (rated 4 out of 4 "trench coats")

"An enthralling, meticulous account of the events leading up to Pearl Harbor. Ambassador Joseph Grew, my grandfather, dedicated ten years to searching for diplomatic solutions in Japan. Steve Kemper’s book honors this extraordinary man, with intriguing parallels to current events at home and abroad. It moved me deeply." — Lilla Lyon, granddaughter of Ambassador Joseph Grew

"Engaging." — Japan Times

"Great biographies are about more than the subject, they are about the subject's times. And even about our times. On this, Kemper succeeds unequivocally." — Wendell Jamieson, Book & Film Globe

"Kemper's book portrays just how important diplomatic efforts and relationships are in defusing crises. Our Man in Tokyo should be required reading for national security leaders everywhere as we face growing challenges with China and Russia."  —  Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, U.S. Navy, Proceedings, United States Naval Institute

From the Publisher

Steve Kemper’s elegant, richly rewarding biography should go a long way toward correcting [Barth’s obscurity]. On one level, the book is a superb chronicle of Barth’s travels, from the harrowing heat and physical danger to the dazzling diversity of people he encountered on his path. It’s also an astute character study of a relentlessly curious scientific personality.”

Boston Globe on A Labyrinth of Kingdoms

There’s almost too much for one book, let alone one life . . . Mr. Kemper’s narrative is rich, detailed, and pitch-perfect, with the witty and wonderful skipping off every page.

Wall Street Journal on A Splendid Savage

[Barth] approached his expedition with an open mind and a willingness to engage with those around him regardless of their social status. Barth’s insights into the commonalities that exist among different cultures remain relevant today.”

on A Labyrinth of Kingdoms Booklist

Monumental . . . every chapter of which could inspire a thrilling novel on its own.

Historical Novel Society

A splendid book about an amazing life. If this work were not history, it might seem an overly ambitious adventure novel whose hero deserved a multi-volume series.

History Book Club

[A] life was so full of derring-do and fearless exploits that, lacking historical record, one would assume him to be myth.

on A Splendid Savage Outside

★ 10/01/2022

An at-once depressing and instructive chronicle of Japan's descent from a democracy with free press and civilian rule (albeit represented by a deified and remote emperor) into a fascist society in which the military's wishes trumped social and political norms by Kemper (A Splendid Savage: The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham). Joseph Grew was ambassador to Japan for 10 years, until Japan declared war on the U.S. in 1941. Based largely on Grew's detailed diaries and extensive communications with Cordell Hull's State Department, President Franklin Roosevelt, and his wide range of influential friends, the book is more in the category of annals. Grew's intimate knowledge is vital to any study of World War II. His attempts to modify the bloody Japanese invasion of China and the increasingly anti-Western focus of economic relations speaks to both the effects of untrammeled propaganda and the impotence of American diplomacy in the run-up to a global war. Although it may be difficult to follow for those new to the subject, the book presents an important view of the interwar relationship between the Japanese and the Americans. VERDICT Highly recommended for World War II and diplomatic collections at the undergraduate level and above.—Edwin Burgess

Library Journal

2022-09-17
How a skilled ambassador tried to rein in a wildly dysfunctional nation.

Historian Kemper speeds over the early life of Joseph Grew (1880-1965), who preferred travel to the lucrative family business. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1904 and rose steadily. Appointed ambassador to Japan in 1932, he served until World War II broke out. Japan had a constitution and elected parliament but also a godlike emperor. “To ensure this infallibility,” writes the author, “he wasn’t allowed to make any decisions, nor could he be held responsible for decisions made by others.” The military swore loyalty to the emperor, not the constitution, so it was largely uncontrollable. Young, jingoistic officers regularly murdered their superiors or civilian officials who seemed insufficiently bellicose, proclaimed that they acted out of love for the emperor, and were treated with kid gloves. In this richly detailed narrative, Kemper emphasizes that Japan had genuine grievances against the West. The U.S. prohibited many Asian immigrants, and many states forbade Japanese from becoming citizens or owning property. Japanese leaders denounced Western imperialism—not because it was unjust but because they believed that Japan, not the West, deserved to rule the Asian world. Grew arrived after Japan had annexed Manchuria and would later invade China. This produced outrage in America, including among his superiors. Although equally unsympathetic, Grew explained that since America had no intention of using force, outrage alone produced irritation without accomplishing anything. His goal as a diplomat was to win respect from the Japanese and encourage more enlightened behavior. Grew himself did not rate his chances highly, and readers know how matters turned out, but Kemper’s compelling history gives him high marks for winning popularity among the people and trust from Japanese leaders—far more than other Western diplomats. He accomplished this despite understanding that he was dealing with a deeply flawed government willing to commit hara-kiri in pursuit of its goals, which it proceeded to do.

A fine account of an American diplomat who did his best to contain Japanese ambitions in the run-up to World War II.

Kirkus Reviews