CONSUL FOUND.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20331, 14 June 1934, Page 1

CONSUL FOUND.

WANDERED AWAY INTO COUNTRY.

Was Mentally Deranged. JAPANESE THREATS TO CHINA WERE UNNECESSARY. 0 United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received June 14, 12.15 p.m.) SHANGHAI, June 13. Mr Ilideakira Kuramoto, Japanese Vice-Consul at Nanking, who has been missing since Friday, was found asleep in the woods at the foot of the Purple Mountain, near the Ming Tombs. He was obviously mentally unbalanced, but nevertheless was capable of answering questions. He declared that he jwas anxious to die, having previously 'decided on this. Detailing his movements, he said: “ On Friday night I was ready to proceed to the railway station to farewell Mr Ari\*oshi. The car was crowded, so I took a rickshaw. I found myself outside the city gates, and I decided to continue in the direction of the Sun-yat-sen Mausoleum. Eventually dismissing the rickshaw and looking back on the bright lights of the city, I had a strange feeling of happiness, and decided to bid farewell to the beautiful city of Nanking, since the people there had many different outlooks. Mr Kuramoto described the movements bringing him beneath the Chinese Republican leader’s memorial, where he decided to lie down and die. The Japanese are nonplussed by the sudden trend of developments, while there is general rejoicing among Chinese official circles, who believe that what threatened to be a serious Sino-Japan-ese incident has been satisfactorily settled. Japan had officially informed China that she w’Ould be held responsible for Mr Kuramoto’s disappearance and Japanese warships were moved to Nanking. The Japanese believed that Mr Kuramoto had been kidnapped, and Mr K. Hi rota, the Japanese Foreign Minister, declared that the incident revealed Chinese maladministration.