Page 11 - Marutas of Unit 731

Having been educated in London, he chaired the bureau that draed the
Meiji Constitution in the 1880s. Trusted deeply by Prince Ito, Kaneko

participated in draing the Constitution which favored the Japanes e concept

of a kokutai or “national polity” instead of religious preference like the

constitutions in the West. It focused on the Japanese identity under the

Emperor and fostered a nationalistic pride in the people.

eodore (Teddy) Roosevelt was also a Har vard graduate and had met
Kaneko in 1890 at Roosevelt’s Washington home where they were

introduced by a mutual Har vard friend. Roosevelt was impressed with

Kaneko as he appeared to be Amer icanized, a titled aristocrat, and a

Har vard lawyer. Teddy had never seen Asia, imagined most of the Japanes e

to be similar to Kaneko, and called Japan “ e Yankee of the East”. e
friendship between Kaneko and Teddy in uenced much of the latter’s

foreign policies, including the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, which

earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

Japan had attacked Russia in Port Arthur aer negotiations broke down

over Manchuria and Korea’s dominance. China had lost Souther n
Manchuria to Japan during the First Sino-Japanese War, but Russia had its

interest there as well. Although Japan was industrializing, it could not have

won the war with Russia without support from the U.S. Due to Kaneko and

Roosevelt’s relationship, Prince Ito entered the war con dent that Roosevelt

would be able to inter vene if necessar y. On April 14, 1904, Roosevelt
brought Kaneko to a gathering at the prestigious University Club where they

met Wall Street nanciers. Within 40 days of the meet ing, Wall Street

bankers sold millions of dollars in Japanese bonds.

Interestingly, it was also during this war that the Japanese realized that

diseases could be as deadly as repower. Soldiers were suffer ing from
cholera, beri-beri, typhoid fever, and diarrheal diseases. During the siege of