The seventh chapter is devoted to the period from Hirota’s resignation as foreign minister in 1938 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. While Hirota did not hold any formal office in the government during this time, he participated in the conferences of senior statesmen who chose new prime ministers due to his status of a former prime minister. Much of the chapter is thus spent on Hirota’s views of political and diplomatic developments, particularly his opposition to the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact and his acceptance of the Japanese decision to go to war against the United States. He continued to be in contact with prominent government and diplomatic officials, but Hirota’s most significant contribution during this period was his heavy involvement in the doomed diplomatic overtures toward the Soviet Union in the final months of the war to have it either mediate an end to the war or at least remain neutral. These are covered in detail and illustrate the dysfunctional state of the foreign ministry in responding to Japan’s worsening military situation.