Role of the United States in the negotiation and conclusion of the treaty of peace with Japan; conclusion of a bilateral security treaty; progress toward an administrative agreement; policy of the United States regarding rearmament of Japan; occupation and control of Japan 1

1. For previous documentation, see Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. vi, pp. 1109 ff.

Notes on Sources

Emphasis of the Japanese compilation for 1951 is largely upon policies and events leading up to conclusion of the multilateral Japanese Peace Treaty and United States-Japan security arrangements. After some consideration of grouping United States negotiations on the Peace Treaty with each of the major Far Eastern Commission powers in a series of subcompilations, the editors decided instead on a chronological organization in order to eliminate excessive cross-referencing.

The compilation takes note also of the planning and discussion of Japanese rearmament within the United States Government and between the two countries. Material is included on the changing relationship of the occupying powers and of SCAP to the Japanese Government, especially with regard to the purge directives. There is a smaller quantity of material on economic questions not connected with the Treaty.

The compilation is based on the archives of the Department of State and on pertinent documents from other agencies which could be specifically requested on the basis of mention in the Department’s files. The compilers have also examined the H. Alexander Smith papers and the declassified and unclassified portions of the John Foster Dulles papers, at Princeton University, for materials on the Peace and Security Treaties.

The main Peace Treaty decimal file is 694.001. The main Japanese political file, 794.00 and its subfiles, is also useful. Interrelated police and rearmament questions are filed under 794.56 and 894.501.

The major Lot file is 54D423, the John Foster Dulles Peace Treaty File. Some materials in it are not duplicated elsewhere; additionally, its documents are more convenient to use than are other copies scattered through the decimal files. This Lot is also a major source for [Page 778] the compilation dealing with East Asian-Pacific security. In Lot 56D527, a file of the Office of Northeast Asian Affairs, are several folders representing the working Treaty files of several of the officials of that Office.

The foregoing is intended to serve as an introduction, not an exhaustive guide, to the pertinent material in the files.


[764] The Chargé in the Republic of China (Rankin) to the Secretary of State

693.94/10–2551: Telegram


[769] The United States Political Adviser to SCAP (Sebald) to the Secretary of State

694.001/11–851: Telegram


[770] The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in Paris

694.001/11–751: Telegram


[775] The Ambassador in London (Gifford) to the Secretary of State

694.001/11–1451: Telegram


[776] Memorandum of the Under Secretary’s Meeting, Prepared in the Department of State

Under Secretary’s Meetings, Lot 53D250


[777] Memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Lovett)

Department of Defense Files


[778] The Ambassador in London (Gifford) to the Secretary of State

694.001/11–1751: Telegram


[780] The Ambassador in France (Bruce) to the Secretary of State

694.001/11–2251: Telegram


[781] The Ambassador in France (Bruce) to the Secretary of State

694.001/11–2351: Telegram


[785] The United States Political Adviser for Japan (Sebald) to the Secretary of State

693.94/11–3051: Telegram


[788] The United States Political Adviser to SCAP (Sebald) to the Secretary of State

693.94/12–1151: Telegram


[791] The United States Political Adviser to SCAP (Sebald) to the Secretary of State

611.94/12–1351: Telegram


[792] The United States Political Adviser to SCAP (Sebald) to the Secretary of State

611.94/12–1451: Telegram


[793] The Acting Secretary of Defense (Foster) to the Secretary of State

894.501/12–1551

  1. Mr. Merchant arrived in London November 13, 1951, for talks regarding a Sino-Japanese peace treaty with Robert Heatlie Scott, Superintending Under Secretary of the Far Eastern Department of the Foreign Office.
  2. Memorandum drafted December 12. It bears this marginal note: “OK as amended D[ean] R[usk].”