894.00P.R./118
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State38
On September 1, Mr. Horinouchi, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, made a radio broadcast to the United States in which he defended Japan’s actions in China on the ground of China’s anti-Japanese acts and asserted that Japan’s intentions were peaceful; stated that the ultimate object of the present hostilities in North China and Shanghai was the realization of a state permitting genuine cooperation between the two countries; and declared that the Japanese expeditionary forces in China had not been sent there for aggressive purposes and that Japan had no territorial designs. Mr. Horinouchi’s radio address was similar to speeches subsequently made in the Diet by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister. Apparently, Mr. Horinouchi’s speech received little attention in the United States.
- Extract from report on conditions in Japan during the month of September 1937, transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in Japan in his despatch No. 2624, Oct. 13, 1937.↩