Japanese diplomat, consular official, who resided in Kaunas from 1939 to 1940 as Vice-Consul of the Empire of Japan. During the Second World War, he helped about 6000 Lithuanian, Polish and German Jews to escape from Europe by issuing them Japanese transit visas. In doing so, he risked his career, as he did not have the official approval of the Japanese government.
In 1939, Chiune Sugihara came to Kaunas from Helsinki and set up a Japanese consulate in a house rented by Professor Juozas Tonkūnas. Officially, he became the consul of the Riga branch of the embassy to develop economic relations with Lithuanian companies, and unofficially, for diplomatic and intelligence purposes, he gathered information about the situation on the border and the deployment of Soviet troops.
When Poland was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, many Polish Jewish refugees in Lithuania tried to obtain visas to go abroad. Without visas, travelling was dangerous and it was extremely difficult to find a diplomatic mission that would grant a visa. Hundreds of refugees applied to the Japanese consulate in Kaunas for visas to Japan.
The Japanese government at the time had a policy of neutrality towards Jews. When issuing immigration visas, it was required that immigration formalities be followed and that the individuals had sufficient means of subsistence. Most refugees did not meet these requirements. Č. Sugihara consulted the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) 3 times for further conduct and instructions. Each time, the Ministry replied that, without exception, all those wishing to obtain a visa had to have a visa from a third country in order to be able to leave Japan later. Č. Sugihara and his wife began issuing visas at the consulate on their own initiative. He repeatedly ignored the rules for issuing 10-day transit visas to Japan. This was unprecedented given his position (he was not a diplomatic representative-ambassador, but only a consular officer) and the practice and service culture of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Č. Sugihara negotiated with USSR officials for Jews to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway at five times the normal price. Working up to 18 hours a day, he issued hand-signed visas, exceeding the usual monthly statistics. Visas were also issued to heads of family who were entitled to travel with their entire family.
On 4 September 1940 the consulate was closed. According to witnesses, in the last moments before leaving for Germany, the consul even filled in visas on the Riga-Berlin train, throwing them out of the train window when signed. The exact number of visas issued is unknown. It is estimated that between 2,139 and 10,000 visas were issued.
In 1947, after arriving in Japan, Č. Sugihara resigned. The Japanese government paid him a severance package and a pension. In 1985, shortly before his death, he was named a Righteous Among the Nations.
