澀澤榮一
Japan was part of the Entente during World War I, but was not involved in the European front of the conflict as Japanese activities concentrated around China and other Asian territories. However, during the gruesome genocide, the Japanese had first reported about it and thus participated in the relief efforts to save the Armenian population. The effort was done by Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi, who was alarmed by the ongoing massacre of the Armenian population. However, as a result of its eventual role in World War II, Japanese war crimes had been widely compared to the Ottoman war crimes; thus Japan has been reluctant to acknowledge the genocide due to fear of political backlash.