Office of the Historian

711.94/1057: Telegram

The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State

Tokyo, February 1, 1936—11 a.m.
[Received February 1—2:56 a.m.]

21. 1. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi, Japanese edition, this morning published an article to the effect that as a result of conversations between the Japanese Ambassador in Washington59 and the Secretary of State, and between Hirota and myself, the following principles had been established:

(a)
There are no American-Japanese problems insoluble by diplomatic means.
(b)
Both countries should refrain from irritating speech and actions. The article then alleges that steps are now being taken for the conclusion of an American-Japanese political agreement based on the principle of division of the Pacific into American and Japanese spheres of action and including the spirit of the Hull-Hirota messages.60 [Page 36] The article intimates further that this political agreement may lead to a bilateral naval disarmament agreement.

2. The Jiji this morning published a short article alleging that Hirota is working toward a tripartite agreement between the United States, Great Britain and Japan whereby each country will undertake the maintenance of peace in its particular sphere; United States in the Americas, Great Britain in Europe and Japan in the Far East, the tripartite agreement to replace the League of Nations as world peace machinery.

3. The Embassy has no knowledge of any negotiations tending to ends outlined in the two articles but as both articles appeared today it is believed possible that they may in fact be trial balloons put out by the Foreign Office.

Grew
  1. Hirosi Saito.↩
  2. February 21 and March 3, 1934, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, pp. 127–129.↩