As a consequence of anti-Semitic activities undertaken in Europe, chiefly by Germany, Jews living in the Far East organized a conference in Harbin, Manzhoudiguo (Manzhouguo or Manchukuo). The Japanese military supported this effort. Higuchi not only participated in the conference, but also made a speech when it began supporting the Jewish people. Although it delighted Jews, his speech angered the German government, which registered a formal protest. Higuchi was not disciplined, however.
In 1938, Higuchi was assigned as chief of the 2nd Bureau of the General Staff, and the next year he was promoted to lieutenant general. He then commanded in succession the 9th Division, the Northern District Army, and the Northern Army. In 1943, Higuchi was assigned as commander of the Fifth Army (the upgraded Northern Army), and later that year he commanded the operation evacuating Kiska Island in the Aleutian chain. After the war, Higuchi retired from public life and wrote his memoirs; he remained in seclusion after 1947. He died at Tokyo on 11 October 1970.
Higuchi Kiichiro. Rikugun Chujo Higuchi Kiichiro Kaisouroku [Memoirs of General Higuchi Kiichiro]. Tokyo: Fuyosyobo, 1999.