500.A15A5/131
The Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hirota) to the American Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
Your Excellency: I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency’s letter No. 875 dated 5th February, 1938, in which [Page 305] you set forth your Government’s desire regarding the communication of information on the matter of naval construction.
It may be recalled that at the last London Naval Conference the Japanese Government proposed, in the earnest desire to bring about a drastic reduction of naval armament, the total abolition of capital ships and aircraft-carriers, which are aggressive in their nature, and at the same time contended that qualitative limitation, if not accompanied by quantitative limitation, would not be calculated to achieve any fair and equitable measure of disarmament. Unfortunately the views of the Japanese Government were not shared by your Government and the other Governments concerned. This fundamental principle entertained by the Japanese Government was, as your Government will be aware, made clear again last year in their reply to the proposal of your Government regarding the limitation of gun calibres. The Japanese Government, always prompted by the spirit of non-menace and nonaggression, have no intention whatever of possessing an armament which would menace other countries. At this juncture, when, as a result of the non-acceptance by other countries of the reasonable desires of Japan in the matter of disarmament, there is as yet in existence no fair disarmament treaty to which Japan is a party, the Japanese Government are of opinion that the mere communication of information concerning the construction of vessels will, in the absence of quantitative limitation, not contribute to any fair and equitable measure of disarmament and regret that they are unable to comply with the desire of your Government on this point.
The Japanese Government fail to see any logical reasoning in an assumption on the part of your Government that this Government must be deemed to entertain a scheme of constructing vessels which are not in conformity with the limits provided in the London Naval Treaty of 1936, from the mere fact that they do not despatch a reply giving the desired information; and they are of opinion that it is not a matter which should concern this Government if your Government, on the basis of whatever reason or rumour, should exercise the right of escalation provided in any treaty to which Japan is not a party.
Your Government are good enough to intimate that, should the Japanese Government hereafter be prepared to agree to some limitation in respect of the tonnage of vessels and the calibre of guns, they would also be prepared to discuss the matter. The Japanese Government still holding the firm conviction that qualitative limitation, if not accompanied by quantitative limitation, would by no means contribute to the attainment of any fair and equitable measure of disarmament, cannot but consider that the discussion suggested by your Government would not conduce in any measure to the realisation of their desires concerning disarmament. It is to be added, however, that as the Japanese Government do not fall behind other Governments [Page 306] in their ardent desire for disarmament, they will be ready at any moment to enter into any discussions on the matter of disarmament which give primary importance to a fair quantitative limitation.
I avail myself [etc.]