My thanks go to Net Galley and Mariner Books for the invitation to read and review; Our Man in Tokyo is for sale now.

For the most part, my curiosity about World War II has been slaked, but this book has a different point of view than any other I’ve seen. American history students know of the miserable experience of the two Japanese ambassadors to the U.S., whose own government did not even give them a clue that Japan was about to bomb Pearl Harbor, right there on American soil. But I had never heard a word about their counterpart, the U.S. ambassador to Japan. Joseph Grew was a skilled and seasoned diplomat, and he tried mightily to find common ground between the two nations. Of course, in the end he was more or less shouting into the wind. But I had never read a single thing about him, and so this biography caught my interest.

Readers should know that the last two thirds are much more interesting than the beginning. I don’t care about Grew’s early life, or his marriage, or his golf game. I’m in this strictly for the historical record regarding the U.S. and Japan during the period leading up to the war; also, of course, I wanted to know what happened to him, stationed over there as he was, once war broke out. All of these things are explained clearly and in a conversational manner that is easy to read or listen to. (Since I had fallen behind, I checked out the audiobook from Seattle Bibliocommons, and it sped things up for me.)

The various politicians with whom Grew dealt are interesting indeed. The divisions within the government itself, and also within the Japanese military, created all manner of problems with communication and decision making. There are some bizarre circumstances, and they’re well described. But also interesting to me are the less historically necessary, yet fascinating tidbits that he picks up along the way, living for a decade or so in Japan. Here’s just one nugget for you: Mt. Fuji was (and is) a popular vacation destination, but just prior to Japan entering the war, a terrible trend developed. Young people in their twenties and even their teens went to Mt. Fuji in order to throw themselves into the volcano! When 500 young lives had been lost, the government acted. There were no mental health clinics, and no counselors. Instead, they simply made it illegal to sell anyone a one way ticket to Mt. Fuji. And the really weird thing is, it worked! I am still shaking my head over this one. Kemper’s biography is full of these odd little bits that I doubt you will find anywhere else. His research and documentation are sterling.

As to the audio book, the reader does a serviceable job, apart from his dreadful pronunciation of Japanese names. Shudder.

I recommend Our Man in Tokyo to anyone interested in reading nonfiction about American diplomacy in Japan just prior to the outbreak of war between that country and the U.S. Don’t be ashamed to skip a couple of chapters at the outset if you wish; there’s not much there that will become important later.

Kemper has given us a very readable accounting of the years and months leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and what life in Tokyo was like during that period. Japanophiles and history lovers shouldn't miss this book. There are a lot of names to keep track of and a lot of diplomacy, but Kemper keeps it interesting by adding personal and cultural tidbits about our man in Tokyo. There are also plenty of parallels to be drawn since as they say, history repeats itself. That said, anyone with an interest in politics should read this as a cautionary tale for our time. It's an eye opener!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's well worth reading.

Growing up, history tends to drop Japan into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor. A more thorough history will mention the horrific actions in China, but otherwise, not much more ink is spilled on Japan in U.S. textbooks. Well, guess what? Turns out there is a lot more to the story!

Luckily, Steve Kemper is here to write a book about Japan before Pearl Harbor. And even luckier, Ambassador Joseph Grew was the diplomat in Japan during the ramp up to war. Grew is not a name you hear often, but he is absolutely vital in telling this compelling story. Kemper clearly had a lot to work with due to Grew's diaries and documents which show a slow and disjointed march towards war. For me, a book needs two main things for it to be great. The story itself needs to be interesting and the author needs to tell it in a compelling way. Both are fully on display here. Japan was far from a country of bloodthirsty people hell bent on conquering the world. In fact, Kemper makes a hypothetical case that Pearl Harbor was far from a fait accompli.

Kemper is a very gifted writer. I consistently forgot that this book is a tremendous amount of political back and forth. This book could have easily felt like someone was reading Grew's journals back to you. Instead, Kemper presents Grew's words and provides insight which makes this book read like a thriller. It cannot be understated how much Kemper's writing takes this book from good history to great read.

(This book was provided to me as an advance copy by Netgalley and Mariner Books. The full review will be posted to HistoryNerdsUnited.com on 11/17/2022.)

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Mariner Books for an advance copy of this book focusing on the relations between Japan and the United States before the events at Pearl Harbor and the American Ambassador who tried to keep the peace.

All great events have moments that lead up to them. A ripple of an assassination, another of a missed telegram, a change in policy, or in governments, and suddenly things are moving much to fast for anyone person, or people to control. As von Clausewitz said "War is the continuation of policy with other means.". Unfortunately this was the situation faced by American ambassador Joseph C. Grew, in Japan, whose warnings went ignored, or even worse just filed away. Writer and journalist Steve Kemper in Our Man In Tokyo:An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor, looks at the life, times and tribulations of this man and the events in Japan that lead to that fateful day in Pearl Harbor, bringing both sides into a war, only a few people seemed to want.

In 1932 Japan was beset by secret societies whose members included right-wing and fanatical members of the military who pledges fealty to the Emperor, but whose idea of war and returning Japan to glory ran counter to Japanese politics. These groups carried out a campaign of assassination against government officials, diplomats, and anyone who spoke out against the idea of war and the greatness that was Japan. Into this came a new ambassador, Joseph C. Grew, the scion of a notable Boston family, with a lot of grit, and a long history in the of representing the American government. Grew was a friendly person, who soon made the embassy popular among the Japanese government and other foreign representatives. This allowed Grew to gain quite a bit of insight and intelligence into what was going on in Japan, And the news was not good. However in passing on his thoughts, and intelligence most of his findings and opinions went into the void, and American intransigence was not making things easier.

A fascinating book detailing a time in history that I didn't know that much about. I've read before about all the diplomatic attempts with Hitler, but knew little about the discussions done with Japan. And not surprisingly both sides seemed to have been at fault. The idea of face and shame was not something known by many Americans and for us to be such sticklers and immovable on so much, leaving Japan no way but to look weak, was a consideration. Also the fact that a small, but vocal group that seemed to hold sway over others, one that allowed them to commit assassinations, and yet not have to serve jail time was another. Grew is a fully fleshed out character, compelling, brave, and yet willing to learn and listen, unlike most people. The narrative moves well, the cast are all explained well, as well as world events that led to certain actions.

A very different look at some of the origins for the problems between America and Japan. Recommended for World War II fans, and for those who enjoy biographies about people that history has seemed to have forgotten. History fans will have quite a lot to think about after reading this. A perfect gift for the holidays.

Joseph Grew is worth remembering. A wealthy WASP from Boston, he wouldn't find many defenders in academia today, but he gets the respect he deserves in Steve Kemper's Our Man In Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor, which moreover is a good history of the runup to the "date which will live in infamy" -- December 7, 1941 -- that launched the United States as a combatant in the Second World War. (We had of course long been sending aid to Britain, China, and Russia as the self-proclaimed "arsenal of democracy".) Though fluent in French and German, with a smattering of six other languages, Grew never learned Japanese. But he knew the country and had many Japanese friends. A Republican, he had been assigned to Tokyo by Herbert Hoover just before Roosevelt's landslide victory in 1932. They had been classmates at Groton and Harvard, and that counted for a lot: Grew would remain at his post for ten years, the last six months in house arrest with little heat but a cellar full of fine wines and liquors. Through it all, Grew did his best to interpret the two countries to one another, but was too often sabotaged by the US State Department, which took the hard line toward Japan and badly underestimated the danger of a Japanese attack. As you read the last few chapters, you can almost hear the Doomsday clock ticking down to war.

This is a fascinating look at a precarious period of time , during WW II right in the heart of the machine that eventually led to Pearl Harbor and our ultimate conflicts with Japan. This books focuses on the "what might have been" aspect of Ambassador Joseph Grew's tenure during the pivotal years just before war broke out and his valiant efforts to reach out to the people in power that would affect not only the situation in China and Japan, but ultimately the U.S. Written in a very detailed, yet emotional manner, you get a true sense of how compassionate and frustrated Ambassador Grew was and how he handled events as they occurred.
A very intriguing look at a pivotal moment in history.

Before 1941, examples of what happened to a world on the edge of war litter the pages of history. Although Europe is widely studied, there is less information about Japan and its bid for dominance in the far east. Author Steve Kemper brings light to this period in his newest book, Our Man in Tokyo, where he studies Japan's slide into extreme nationalism through the eyes of the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew. A gripping and readable account of the years leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, this book is a history lover's window into an often overlooked nation. An exceptional addition to any library, Our Man in Tokyo is worth reading again and again.

4.5 rounded up
A new look at World War II information. This was fascinating and new to me. Couldn't put it down. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I have read extensively on World War II, mostly about the horrors of Nazi Germany, but knew very little of what led to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This book tells of the American ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew, who was appointed in 1932. Japan was already in turmoil, heading steadily downhill because of the military’s rising power, their control of news sources, the ever present propaganda, and general fake news about Japanese atrocities. In early 1941, things started to get really bad in Japan under the new regime. Everything was rationed, and sports were deemed strictly for physical fitness and not enjoyment. Women were admonished for wearing colorful clothes and makeup, beauty parlors were monitored for “illegal” hair styles, and geishas were renamed “national policy girls.” These new restrictions reminded Ambassador Grew of his favorite definition of totalitarianism: “Everything not forbidden is compulsory.” Despite the ambassador’s best efforts, the hard liners prevailed, and the US was drawn into World War II. This book is a must read, not only for those interested in the history of World War II, but also for those readers who enjoy well written, thoroughly researched, and accessible nonfiction, such as In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. I’m grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for permitting me to review this advance copy.

We know much about the days that led up to Pearl Harbor, and the missed warning signs. What Kemper does a great job is unveiling that the events of December 7, 1941 were years in the making. Through the eyes of Joseph Grew, American ambassador to Japan, the reader gets to see the road to Pearl Harbor through someone who was right there. I would highly recommend this to other diplomatic history fans and WW2 Buffs.

In the past year or so I have read many fine books about World War II in the Pacific. Most have been written from the American point of view, some from the Japanese. Yet not one of them has done as fine a job as Steve Kemper in depicting how war came about and how an unsung hero, Joseph Grew, tried desperately to prevent it.

Grew was a Boston Brahmin who did not fit the traditional mold. He trod the usual path at the time of prep school and then Harvard. However, once free to wander the world he roamed to areas few in his class were at all interested in seeing. On one memorable occasion he crawled into a hole to shoot a tiger just feet from him. When Teddy Roosevelt heard of this he appointed him a member of the diplomatic corps! In time Grew became a skilled diplomat and was appointed Ambassador to Japan. He kept up his life long habit of keeping a diary which forms the backbone of this book.

Kemp skillfully weaves Grew's experiences into the story of how a relatively small number of mid-level officers, by dint of assasination and threat of assassination essentially hijacked an entire country and drove it into a needless and senseless war. The complex political and social structure of Japan at the time is carefully and skillfully laid out by Kemper. Japan's constitution was set up so that the Army and Navy were responsible to no one except the Emperor who's traditional role and powers were oblique and weak. This set up made possible the war in China, the invasion of southeast Asia, membership in the Axis and ultimately an oil embargo on US oil sales. Thus Japan and the United States, not understanding each other's true motives and intentions, both set off on roads to destruction on which neither thought they could reverse direction. It was in this setting that Grew, as a man and diplomat stood head and shoulders above all other players. He desperately tried to persuade Secretary Hull to reconsider the rigid requirements the US had set up as a prerequisite to talks. He likewise urged the Japanese to control their armed forces and to look beyond the requirements of "face"

Grew's analysis, although ignored , proved prescient. We don't know whether his advice, if followed, would have changed the course of events. His advice was heeded in setting up post war Japan and we gained an ally and peace in that part of Asia.

Grew is often seen in history, if at all, as the man delivering a telegraph from Roosevelt to the Emperor seeking further talks while Pearl Harbor was ablaze. He deserves much more than that and this well written, entertaining book delivers

Our Man in Tokyo by Steve Kemper This is most likely not a book for everyone, but it certainly is a book for me. Mr. Kemper uses the diaries of the US Ambassador Joseph C. Grew to detail the period of the 1930’s up to and including the start of WWII for America in the Pacific. Of course, we know when it started and how it ended but this book does an excellent job of describing in detail the delusional path taken by the Japanese Government to cause massive destruction and loss of life in Asia including their own homeland of Japan. There is extensive details of Ambassador Grew’s efforts to understand and then inform the State Department of Japan’s thinking as difficult as it is to separate truth from out right lies. The book also describes in my opinion the silly nature of embassy life of parties and drinking as what often seems the main justification for their existence. The same staff from the embassy community dress up and rotate nearly daily to the various embassies for festivities while around them the people are starving. Ambassador Grew was also a golfer and I thought it was amusing the Japanese had spies to watch what days he played as an indication of how mush at any time he was involved in difficult decision writing to the US State Department. This book along with Ian Buruma’s China Nights, a historical fiction book together gives an excellent look at the sacrifices made by the Japanese public as the war which started with China in 1931 took a toll on the day to day lives of the Japanese.
If I felt there was one fault with the book it was the failure by omission to discuss did America know or not about the attack on Pearl Harbor prior to it occurring. The US had broken the codes and was intercepting messages between Tokyo and the Japanese Embassy in Washington. Although there are hints as discussed in this book no smoking gun message is described. I think it should have been mentioned more directly. To summarize, if you are interested in how the relationship between the US and Japan disintegrated resulting in the Pacific war this is a very good book to read.