was a Japanese diplomat.

Prewar service

In 1925, as diplomatic relations between the Soviet and the Japanese governments were established, was appointed Secretary of the Embassy in Moscow. Served as Counselor of the Embassy in Moscow from June 1939 to August 1940.

Wartime service

Nishi served as Japanese Vice-

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in 1941, at the time of the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Available evidence shows that he was not notified in advance about the intention to launch the attack, and on the morning of December 8, 1941, heard about it over the radio. He resigned his position as vice-minister on September 2, 1942, following the resignation of Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo.

After the war

During the Tokyo War Crimes Trial at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1946-1948, he served as defence counsel to some of the Japanese war criminals. He served as first postwar Japanese ambassador to Australia in 1952-1955.http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/research_units/ajrc/papers/2009/Hon%20Stephen%20Smith%20MP%20Minister%20for%20Foreign%20Affairs%20lecture.pdf As ambassador, he attended the memorial service for

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comm ...

in April 1953, and no protests were made against his presence. He served as Ambassador to the UK in 1955-1957. Nishi's granddaughter Eiko Todo is the founder of the Japan Dyslexic Society, which she did after finding out that her son had that problem.Vivienne Kenrick, article about Eiko Todo, ''The Japan Times'', Nov. 10, 200

/ref> Japanese artist Akito Nishi is one of his descendants.

His legacy

Today, Haruhiko Nishi is esteemed in Australian academic circles, and an annual Crawford-Nishi lecture at

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

was started in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nishi, Haruhiko 20th-century Japanese lawyers Ambassadors of Japan to Australia Ambassadors of Japan to the United Kingdom 1893 births 1986 deaths People from Kagoshima Prefecture