Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura in Wash.D.C. Feb 1941; Wikimedia Commons
Former Foreign Minister of Imperial Japan from 1939-1940, Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura became Ambassador to the USA in November 1940. Through much of 1941, Nomura and United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull attempted to resolve issues including the Japanese conflict with China, the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, and the United States oil embargo against Japan.
Nomura’s recommendations for meaningful concessions were repeatedly rejected by his own government and on November 15, 1941, he was joined by a “special envoy” to Washington, Saburō Kurusu.