793.94/11023
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 8.]
Sir: I have the honor to review in the present despatch the evidences which have come to the Embassy during the first three weeks of October 1937 of a changing Japanese public reaction to the attitude assumed by the United States toward the hostilities in the Far East. This changing reaction can be summarized thus:
- (1)
- At the opening of the month there was in Japan (a) general recognition that American opinion opposed Japan’s actions in China and (b) common knowledge that the American Government was making, and continuing to make, firm representations with regard to American damages suffered through Japanese activities in the hostilities.
- (2)
- Following the President’s Chicago address of October 5 and the Department’s declaration of October 6 feeling against the United States mounted sharply. This feeling resulted from (a) resentment at being condemned and (b) uncertainty as to American intentions of coercing Japan.
- (3)
- With the passage of the two weeks which have since elapsed, the outburst against the United States has become less articulate. At the same time the public conviction has become settled and accepted that the United States has prejudiced the issues between Japan and China, thereby abandoning any right to influence the terms of settlement.
The due respect on the part of Japan for American opposition to Japan’s actions in China was expressed to the Embassy by a responsible Japanese (Embassy’s telegram 449, October 5, 6 p.m.) as late as the morning of October 5, before receipt here of news of the President’s speech. The Japanese referred to stated at that time that Japanese official circles were of opinion that the American Government’s representations had been reasonable and considerate of Japanese susceptibilities. His statement was a fair reflection of the impression which had come to the Embassy from other sources also.
On October 6 the Japanese newspapers featured news of the President’s Chicago speech. Comparison with the full text shows that the Japanese reports were fairly accurate, though extracts only. The following morning the editorials of the two principal Japanese newspapers were given to the subject (Embassy’s telegram 456, October 7, 5 p.m.) Close on the heels of the President’s address came news of the Department’s October 6 statement, which was carried sensationally in all the Japanese newspapers of October 8.57 Outspoken editorials thereafter appeared in all the important papers, and the public’s principal topic of news was this question, as interpreted by the Japanese press. Translations of editorials are enclosed herewith (enclosures 1 to 7).58
Alongside reports of the American attitude toward Japan the newspapers of October 7 gave prominence to a Domei telegram from Rome reporting a signed article by Mussolini expressing approval of Japan’s aims and methods in the China conflict. The press has in fact shown, since the President’s address and the Department’s declaration, an increasing tendency to accept as a now closed matter an international alignment of Japan with Germany and Italy against the territory-possessing countries of the world.
[Page 634]It should be recorded that, for better or for worse, the Department’s October 6 declaration coincided in time with the period of Japan’s settling down to the serious business of war. By the end of September the initial exhilaration of hostilities was over, and the public was beginning to realize, as the nation’s leaders already realized, that a huge effort would be necessary to attain success in the China undertaking. All Japanese were beginning to hear of friends lost in the fighting; the second heavy wave of calling up men to military service, obviously to carry through what was proving difficult, had just got under way. Just as the country was soberly taking a second breath, for the first time generally conscious of the sacrifices necessary, with determination setting itself to seeing the crusade through, came the clear condemnation embodied in the Department’s declaration. The degree of reaction to it was in part a consequence of this coincidence. Whether in the long run the impression made by the declaration on the people of Japan will be the deeper by reason of the timing of the statement is a question for the future to decide. For the present the reaction is resentment and the conviction that the United States cannot now be impartial in any international effort to restore peace in the Far East.
Respectfully yours,
Second Secretary of Embassy
- See telegram No. 459, October 8, 6 p.m., from the Ambassador in Japan, vol. iv, p. 66.↩
- None printed.↩