Ken Harada (diplomat)

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Harada".
Your Excellency (閣下 Kakka?) Ken Harada
1st Diplomat from Japan to the Holy See
In office
April 1942 – 1945
Chargé d'affaires from Japan to Vichy France
Personal details
Died September 18, 1973 (age 80)
Nationality  Japan

Ken Harada (原田 健 Harada Ken?, died September 18, 1973 at age 80)[1] was a chargé d'affaires to Vichy France[1][2] and a diplomat to the Holy See from Japan.[3] He was appointed as a special envoy to the Vatican, and served in this capacity from 1942 to 1945.[1] He was the first diplomatic representative to the Vatican from Japan.[2]

Contents

Diplomat to the Holy See

In 1942, the Holy See began de facto diplomatic relations with Japan, though the United States and United Kingdom protested. Ken Harada was made the first Japanese special envoy to the Holy See, and Archbishop Paolo Marella became the Nuncio to Japan.[4] Harada arrived in the Vatican City in April 1942,[5] and was officially received on May 9, 1942.[6] Harada expressed Japan's desire for peace to Pope Pius XII on occasion, a year before Japan agreed to peace.[7] The Japanese government denied that Harada had expressed a willingness for the country to negotiate peace, declaring the report was "so absurd it is not worth the trouble to deny",[8] though people close to the Vatican confirmed that the meeting had occurred.[9]

Upon the end of Harada's appointment, Pope Pius XII knighted Harada into the Order of St. Sylvester.[10]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Ken Harada Dead at 80 (1973), 1.
  2. ^ a b Associated Press (1942), 2.
  3. ^ Pope Receives Ken Harada (1946), 1.
  4. ^ Rising Sun at the Vatican (1942), 71.
  5. ^ Keogh (1995), 167.
  6. ^ Blet (1999), 131.
  7. ^ United Press International (1944), 1.
  8. ^ Associated Press [Ellensburg Daily Record] (1944), 6.
  9. ^ Associated Press [The Milwaukee Sentinel] (1944), 1.
  10. ^ Associated Press (1946), 1.

References