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Memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
Having called by appointment, the Director of the American Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this evening transmitted to me on behalf of the Foreign Minister the request that I convey to the Secretary of State a message of which the following is the substance:
Reports appearing in the American press of the proposed meeting between the responsible heads of our two Governments have reached Japan, and although the necessary measures have been adopted to prevent the appearance of these reports in the Japanese press it is inevitable that the news of the meeting will be rapidly circulated in Japan.
I here interposed my opinion that the reports of the proposed meeting were not, in all probability, the result of any disclosure of the American Government but more likely the result of the customary guess-work on the part of certain newspaper correspondents. The Director of the American Bureau answered that according to information received by the Foreign Office Mr. Wilfrid Fleisher90 was in possession of the actual facts, but that irrespective of its source the result of this publicity would be to increase the opposition to the Japanese Government on the part of rightist elements since it would be alleged that the Government was yielding to American pressure. Mr. Terasaki went on to say that while the Japanese Government does not fear those elements, nevertheless in view of Japan’s association with the Axis powers in the Tripartite Pact it would be desirable to be in a position as soon as possible to produce, for their effect in uniting the nation, definite results from the Prime Minister’s approach, since it is believed that if the pro-Axis elements promptly could be confronted with a fait accompli any mobilization of these elements against the Japanese Government could be halted.
[Page 587]The Director of the American Bureau said that Admiral Toyoda considered it extremely important that an official announcement of the meeting and its approximate date should be issued as soon as possible. Mr. Terasaki further stated that the Foreign Minister on behalf of Prince Konoye wished to inquire whether the President would find it possible to meet Prince Konoye on or about the twentieth of September or as soon thereafter as possible at the place which the President mentioned in his last conversation with Admiral Nomura, and also whether the Government of the United States would agree to make a joint public announcement with the Japanese Government of this meeting in the immediate future. The Foreign Minister, according to Mr. Terasaki, suggests that the two Governments jointly agree on the text of the announcement and that the words “somewhere in the Pacific” be used to designate the place of the meeting. Terasaki then stated on behalf of the Foreign Minister that Admiral Nomura in Washington is being informed of this inquiry but that the Minister desired that it be conveyed through me. He added incidentally that the Foreign Minister has been much disturbed by the fact that the Japanese Ambassador in Washington had revealed to the press that he had delivered to the President a letter from Prince Konoye.
Mr. Terasaki continued that should the projected meeting between the President and the Prime Minister fail to materialize, the Japanese Government would be forced to inform public opinion in Japan (1) the reasons for which the Prime Minister had sent a message to President Roosevelt, and (2) the spirit in which the Prime Minister desired to confer with the President. Mr. Terasaki added that he was unable to amplify these two points but he desired to emphasize that they should be regarded merely as a statement of what the Japanese Government would be forced to do and should in no manner be regarded as anything in the nature of a threat. In conclusion Mr. Terasaki stated that the Foreign Minister hoped for an early answer to the above inquiry.
Having listened to the statements of the Director of the American Bureau made on behalf of the Foreign Minister, I told him that I seriously doubted whether the President would find it desirable to agree to an announcement before the proposed meeting took place since it had been the original understanding that the fact of the meeting was in itself to be held in strict confidence. I promised, however, to transmit immediately to my Government the Foreign Minister’s inquiry.
- Correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune.↩