was a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 diplomat, who came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1902 as a member of the Japanese Embassy at Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, was consul general at San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 in 1916–1917, then returned to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as director of the Bureau of Commerce of the Japanese Foreign Office. He was a member of the Ishii Mission from which came the Ishii-Lansing agreement

Lansing-Ishii Agreement

The ' was a diplomatic note signed between the United States and the Empire of Japan on 2 November 1917 over their disputes with regards to China....

. He was also an influential member of the Washington Disarmament Conference. In December, 1922, he was appointed ambassador to the United States, and arrived in Washington in February, 1923. His protest, in April, 1924, on the passage of the immigration law

Immigration Act of 1924

The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...

 by the United States government because it would bar the admission of Japanese to the country, was interpreted as "a veiled threat" by the Senate, and had quite an opposite effect from that intended. After the passage of the bill, It was rumored that Hanihara was to be recalled by the Japanese government. Although this was denied, it was soon announced that he would visit Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 on leave of absence

Leave of absence

Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...

.
He came back to Japan in 1924 and resigned his Government post in 1927. He died at the age of 58 in 1934.