Japan removed one of its diplomats from Britain in the mid-1970s after the possibility he could be charged with causing the death of a woman by dangerous driving, official papers in the British National Archives recently revealed.
The diplomat, Setsuo Matsuzawa, a first secretary at the embassy in London, denied the accusation in police interviews. But Tokyo decided he should return home and its embassy pay compensation to the victim's family, the documents claim.
Papers from 1974 show prosecutors believed there was strong evidence against Matsuzawa and the Foreign Office was preparing to ask the Japanese ambassador to waive the diplomat's immunity.
However, knowing such a request was imminent, Tokyo decided a few months after the accident to "transfer" Matsuzawa back to Japan, thereby avoiding a potentially embarrassing court case.