Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
- Major General Suganami was the Chief of Staff of the Occupation Government in Hong Kong. He was in the post from November 1942 to June 1944. He was often portrayed by those who dealt with him as one of the more reasonable Japanese officers in Hong Kong.
- He advocated treating the people of Hong Kong well to win their hearts, rather than abusing them. Suganami particularly emphasized the importance of protecting the religious freedom of local Christians.
- His daughter confirmed that Suganami was a Catholic Christian, and his Bible was heavily marked and underlined. (1) (2)
Sources :
(1) "Father's warnings twice saved Japanese family from nuclear bombs" by Rieko Suganami Evans (daughter of Suganami)(https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/faith-culture/fathers-warnings-twi…)
(2) The Biography of Kong Yat-sen by Kong Kai-ming (https://gwulo.com/node/60104 )
The Biography of Kong Yat-sen by Kong Kai-ming (1) & The Biography of Kong Yat-sen by Kong Kai-ming (2)
Photos that show this Person
1938
c.1941
1943
Comments
Suganami lived at my Great-Uncle’s 115 Waterloo Rd.
My cousin, actress Nancy Kwan’s grandfather was Kwan Chee Woh, father of architect and BAAG Agent “Domus”, Wing Hong “Honkie” Kwan. Kwan Chee Woh resided at 115 Waterloo Rd., next to his brothers, Dr Kwan King Leung (Sum Yin) at 101 Waterloo Rd. and Dr Kwan King Sing at 107 Waterloo Rd. In her book, Many Layered Skirt, Dr Kwan Sum Yin’s granddaughter, Man Sheung Cheng, wrote about her experience as a teenager during the Second World War, part of which took place at her uncle’s home: Kempeitai HQ! I have always wanted to know who occupied 115 Waterloo Rd. because the commander in charge had a change in heart when he saw Kwan Chee Woh’s sister kneeling praying in her room and he decided to spare killing the members of the household because she reminded him of his Christian grandmother. In August of 2022, I reached out to Prof. Kwong Chi Man asking him if he had ever seen a photo of 115 Waterloo Rd. between 1941-1945 because it was Kempeitai HQ in Kowloon Tong. He was so excited to hear about my great-uncle’s house and provided the name of the Japanese officer who lived there, describing him as very sympathetic to Christians. Prof Kwong’s description matched what family lore has told my family for generations. Double mystery solved for Prof Kwong as he had never been able to figure out where Suganami lived, and I had wanted to uncover the identity of the kind Japanese officer. Amazing. Then, more amazing is I got in touch with Suganami’s youngest daughter via the author of the article Norm Jameson, “Father’s Warnings Twice” when he interviewed Reiko Suganami Evans. We spoke on the phone and she kindly sent me a photo of her father which I will share here. Thank you, Alan, for posting those photos, I have never seen them before but will now share them with my extended family. Suganami is part of our family’s occupied Hong Kong history during those harrowing Second World War years.
re: Suganami & 115 Waterloo Road
That's a great story, thank you for sharing.
I've made a page for 115 so that if any photos of the building appear we can link them there: https://gwulo.com/node/60876
Re : Suganami lived at my Great-Uncle’s 115 Waterloo Rd.
Thank you, Deborah, for sharing this wonderful story! Learning how you unraveled the mysteries of your family history and even connected with Suganami’s daughter is truly touching. I’m also very grateful that you’re willing to share this photo. I noticed that in the Postscript, point 5, of Many Layered Skirt: Dan Gao Qun by Cheng, Marlene F, it’s mentioned: 'After the war, the Japanese commando invited Mungie and Mother to visit him in Japan.' This piece of information is so fascinating! I never imagined there’d be such interactions after the war!
Ichiro Suganami ~ Japanese Legation in Canada
Marlene Cheng's Book
Hi Alan,
Yes, I wonder if my great-aunt Daisy ever did visit Col. Suganami in Japan? Wow how did you procure a copy of Many Layered Skirt so quickly? It has been an amazing journey discovering my grandmother's side of the family, the Kwans of Hong Kong and Tientsin. The Second World War years in HK are of particular interest to me as I have heard so many stories and so many of my relatives lived through it. Please, can we connect by email? If you could kindly email me at debbie.jiang@live.com that would be great.
Thank you,
Debbie