Ex-envoy's kin unveils hidden WWII classified telegrams

Ex-envoy's kin unveils hidden WWII classified telegrams

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuko Ichihara (L), a niece of the wife of a late Japanese diplomat, shows the bounded volume of classified diplomatic telegrams from World War II that she found while sorting out belongings of a deceased relative in Tokyo on Aug. 14, 2014. The documents secretly kept by Ryuji Takeuchi, Japan's ambassador to the United States after the war, shows that Japan's wartime foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, in May 1944 considered asking the Soviet Union to broker an agreement to end war with China.

Japan's wartime foreign minister mulled ending China war

Japan's wartime foreign minister mulled ending China war

TOKYO, Japan - A page from among classified telegrams circulated among Japanese diplomats during World War II is photographed on Aug. 14, 2014. The documents newly discovered by a relative of a former Japanese ambassador showed that then Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu in May 1944 considered asking the Soviet Union to broker an agreement to end war with China.

File photo of Japan's WWII foreign minister Shigemitsu

File photo of Japan's WWII foreign minister Shigemitsu

TOKYO, Japan - An undated file photo of Mamoru Shigemitsu, Japan's foreign minister during World War II. Classified telegrams discovered by a relative of a former Japanese diplomat showed that Shigemitsu in May 1944 considered asking the Soviet Union to broker an agreement to end war with China.

Ex-envoy's kin unveils hidden WWII classified telegrams

Ex-envoy's kin unveils hidden WWII classified telegrams

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuko Ichihara (L), a niece of the wife of a late Japanese diplomat, shows the bounded volume of classified diplomatic telegrams from World War II that she found while sorting out belongings of a deceased relative in Tokyo on Aug. 14, 2014. The documents secretly kept by Ryuji Takeuchi, Japan's ambassador to the United States after the war, shows that Japan's wartime foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, in May 1944 considered asking the Soviet Union to broker an agreement to end war with China. (Kyodo)

File photo of Japan's WWII foreign minister Shigemitsu

File photo of Japan's WWII foreign minister Shigemitsu

TOKYO, Japan - An undated file photo of Mamoru Shigemitsu, Japan's foreign minister during World War II. Classified telegrams discovered by a relative of a former Japanese diplomat showed that Shigemitsu in May 1944 considered asking the Soviet Union to broker an agreement to end war with China. (Kyodo)