Despite hostilities between various nations during WW2, a number of interchanges of prisoners, diplomats and other personnel took place amongst the warring parties.

On 14 August 1942, she arrived at Shanghai where she was joined by another exchange vessel Tatsuta Maru carrying Sir Robert Craigie, the British Ambassador and other diplomats.

Minister Kawai took aboard four white boxes containing the ashes of Japanese midget submariners killed in the 31 May 1942 attack on Sydney Harbour.

On 11 September 1942 the Kamakura Maru arrived at Singapore disembarking 289 Japanese and delivered 14,770 parcels for POWs.

On 8 October 1942 Kamakura Maru arrived in Yokohama, where several thousand people were present as Minister Kawai handed over the boxes of ashes to relatives of the midget submariners.

The US submarine USS Gudgeon fired a spread of four torpedoes at the Japanese vessel at 3,200 yards range.

The US submarine passed through the area where the ship sank and reported a dozen lifeboats and floating debris and a large number of people in the water.

[3] Four days later, 465 survivors (28 sailors out of 176 crew, and 437 passengers)[1] were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships, implying some 2,035 people were killed.