Yoshikawa never received official recognition of his services during the war. In 1955, he opened a candy business but it failed as word spread of his role in the war. The locals blamed Yoshikawa for the war. "They even blamed me for the atomic bomb," he declared in one interview. Penniless and jobless, he was supported by his wife for the rest of his life via her position selling insurance. "My wife alone shows me great respect," said the old former spy. "Every day she bows to me. She knows I am a man of history." He died in a nursing home.