740.0011 Pacific War/545
The Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (Toyoda) to the American Ambassador in Japan (Grew)27
Between the Japanese Government and the Vichy Government there was amicably reached an agreement of views on the twenty-first of July, 1941, concerning the joint protection of French Indochina, and an announcement on the agreement is soon to be made.
I asked for an appointment with Your Excellency this evening in order to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Japanese Government, of informing Your Excellency in advance of the measure just referred to, and of making the situation clear so that there may be no unnecessary misunderstanding which may arise from this question, in view of the foreign press reporting unfounded rumors such as that the Japanese Government had sent the Vichy Government an ultimatum.
The relations between Japan and French Indochina have recently become more friendly by the so-called Matsuoka-Henri Pact of August, last year, and several other Franco-Japanese agreements; and in view of the fact that it is to the common interest of both Japan [Page 319] and France to insure the safety of French Indochina and to prevent the disturbance of peace in the same area under the existing complicated international situation, the Japanese and French Governments have, at this time, as already stated, arrived at an understanding as regards joint protection of French Indochina.
It is needless to say that I can affirm to Your Excellency that the Japanese Government will strictly observe all the agreements now existing between Japan and France and especially those relating to the integrity of territory and the respect for sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the domestic affairs of French Indochina, and also that Japan has no intention at all of making the southern part of French Indochina a base of armed advancement against adjoining areas.
As a matter of fact, we are receiving numerous reports that America should adopt more stringent anti-Japanese economic measures such as the freezing of Japanese capital in America and a complete embargo of petroleum oil as retaliatory steps against the measure just mentioned; and if the above should ever be realized, I deeply apprehend that it will be difficult to prevent the unexpected agitation of antagonism among the Japanese people against aid to the Chiang Kai-shek regime and the encirclement campaign against Japan, which antagonism the government has so carefully repressed until today.
It seems that in the United States there is an element which possesses an unpleasant feeling against the measure which I have just mentioned, but viewing it in a fair and composed attitude from an objective standpoint, such a measure is truly unavoidable from a broad viewpoint of maintaining peace in the Pacific by preventing a more serious aggravation of the feelings of the Japanese people, which are steadily being excited by such facts as the unsatisfactory result of the Netherlands East Indies-Japanese negotiations, and as is well known, the almost daily reports from abroad about the tightening of the encirclement campaign against Japan. I earnestly hope that Your Excellency will fully comprehend the disposal at issue as being necessitated by sincere hope for the maintenance of the peace in the Pacific and cooperate in keeping the door open for my hope and further efforts directed toward amicable solution of Japanese-American relations.
- Unofficial English translation by Japanese Foreign Office of document in Japanese handed to the American Ambassador, Mr. Grew, by the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Admiral Toyoda, during conversation on July 25, 1941. This translation was later checked by the American Embassy.↩