Editing Wakatsuki Reijirō (section)

==Later life==
After his retirement as Prime Minister, Wakatsuki became president of the ''[[Rikken Minseitō]]'' in July 1934. Despite the growing militarism in Japanese society, he continued  to oppose the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and was adamantly opposed to extending the war to include the [[United States]] and other [[Allies of World War II|western powers]]. Even after the declaration of hostilities in [[World War II]], he publicly stated the war should end as quickly as possible. In May 1945, on hearing of the collapse of [[Nazi Germany]], he emerged from retirement to urge Prime Minister [[Kantarō Suzuki]] to open negotiations with the United States as soon as possible. In August, he participated in the government panel recommending unconditional acceptance of the [[Potsdam Declaration]].

After the [[surrender of Japan]], Wakatsuki was subpoenaed by the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers]] in June 1946 as a prosecution witness at [[The International Military Tribunal for the Far East]]. Wakatsuki died of [[Angina pectoris]] at his summer home in [[Itō, Shizuoka]] on November 20, 1949. His grave is at the [[Somei Cemetery]] in downtown Tokyo.