Augustine was a Japanese diplomat.

Diplomatic career

Kanayama worked under Ambassador Ken Harada at the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

in 1942-1945. In his position at the Vatican, he tried to obtain an early Japanese surrender in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the spring of 1945 (which would have avoided the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

) by requesting Papal mediation between the US and Japanese governments., After World War II, he succeeded Harada as Minister Chargé d'Affairs at the Vatican, remaining there until 1952. His next overseas post was as Councilor of Embassy in the Philippines. This was followed by three years as Consul-General in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

from 1954 to 1957. Afterwards, he was appointed for four years as Director general of the European Oceanic Bureau at the Foreign Office. From 1961 to 1963, he was Consul General in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he was also President of the Society of Foreign Consules in 1962 and 1963. In the years from 1963 to 1972, he was successively Japanese Ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

.,''Modern Asian Studies'' 6 (1972), pp. 49-6

He retired in 1972, but remained active in several international research and cultural organizations. Nine months after his death in 1997, he was buried in a Catholic cemetery near

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Diplomatic career

References

Further reading