for the relationship Amakasu wanted to see between Japan and China. With the fall of Manchukuo to Soviet forces during the invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, Amakasu committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide. On the last day of his life, Amakasu wrote out a suicide note in his office and swallowed a cyanide pill. In popular culture Amakasu was portrayed by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto in the 1987 film The Last Emperor, although he was shown shooting himself to death in the movie. Amakasu is also a character in the historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata. In the novel, he is involved with the freemasons. Amakasu was featured as a character in Ian Buruma's novel The China Lover, released in 2008. Amakasu is a main character in Christian Kracht's 2016 novel The Dead''. See also Amakasu Incident Manchukuo Film Association Notes References ; OCLC 44090600 1891 births 1945 deaths Drug-related suicides in China Military personnel from Miyagi Prefecture People of Manchukuo Suicides by cyanide poisoning