'Eternal peace': last words of Japan prime minister who signed WWII surrender recalled by kin

MAEBASHI -- A granddaughter of Kantaro Suzuki shared memories with the Mainichi Shimbun on April 17 about the life of the prime minister in office during Japan's World War II defeat.

Suzuki (1868-1948) was appointed prime minister in April 1945 at the age of 77. That August, he signed Japan's acceptance of the Allies' terms of surrender stated in the Potsdam Declaration, and the entire wartime Cabinet resigned.

"He used the whole of his life to bring about an end to the war," Suzuki's granddaughter, Tokyo resident and music critic Michiko Suzuki recalled. Kantaro was reportedly a kind grandfather who often held her in his arms and played with her.

Michiko, 92, shared her most important memory of her grandfather. At the end of his life at his Chiba Prefecture home, Suzuki regained consciousness and uttered, "Eternal peace, eternal peace," before falling back into unconsciousness and passing away.

Suzuki's last day almost came more than a decade before. He was shot during the February 1936 attempted coup, and had no pulse at one point. He recovered and went on to become head of the Imperial Privy Council before becoming prime minister.

While his family was opposed to his appointment, Kantaro privately told them of his resolve, "I'll become Badoglio," referring to Pietro Badoglio, the prime minister of Italy whose administration surrendered to the Allies.

Michiko had evacuated to Ibaraki Prefecture from her family home in Tokyo, but after returning, it was decided she'd evacuate once more to northern Japan's Akita Prefecture. She pleaded to stay in Tokyo, but Suzuki told her, "Go to Akita with your friends. Young people need to go somewhere safe and build the next generation."

Michiko said that his words, carrying a vision of the postwar generation, still ring clearly in her mind.

"At the time, victory was everything. Peace and ending the war were rejected, and it was the kind of situation where it was considered only natural to be killed for moving to bring the war to an end," Michiko recalled. In fact, when the war did end, people upset over Japan's defeat set fire to Suzuki family home in Tokyo, destroying it.

And yet, Suzuki returned as leader of the Privy Council, which was assessing the new Constitution. He reportedly showed respect for the document's war-renouncing Article 9.

Michiko mentioned ongoing conflicts, such as heightening tensions in the Middle East with Iran's recent drone and missile attack on Israel and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "It's trivial to start a war, but extremely difficult to end one. My grandfather believed that the world must be at peace," she said.

***

On the same day as the interview with Michiko Suzuki, a volunteer group of graduates of Maebashi High School and others in Maebashi inaugurated a "kenshokai" honoring society dedicated to passing down Kantaro Suzuki's message of peace. The former prime minister had a connection with the city, having spent part of his early childhood there.

In 1877, Kantaro transferred from Tokyo to the present-day Maebashi Municipal Momonoi Elementary School, then called the Umayabashi Elementary School, and continued his studies at the present-day Maebashi High School. He moved away to enroll in the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, but had spent an impressionable period of his life in Maebashi. He later also became an admiral, and Grand Chamberlain for the then Imperial Household Ministry (the predecessor of today's Imperial Household Agency).

About 250 people attended the group's meeting at Maebashi's Gunma Kaikan Hall. The honoring society's chair, CEO and President Hiroshi Koshidaka of Koshidaka Holdings Co., said, "We'd like to continue to teach about him (Suzuki) as the pride of Maebashi." Maebashi Mayor Akira Ogawa commented, "Moves are being made to convey Maebashi's important history."

Going forward, the group will engage in activities such as joint research and disseminating information. A memorial hall in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, for the former prime minister, who lived in that area for much of his life, has been closed since sustaining damage in 2019's Typhoon Hagibis. Among other goals, the group will seek the hall's restoration and the realization of a drama series about Suzuki on public broadcaster NHK. They will also distribute reading materials about him to all elementary and junior high schools in Maebashi.

(Japanese original by Ryuko Tadokoro, Maebashi Bureau)