711.94/940

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

No. 732

Sir: I have the honor to refer to my despatch No. 702 of March 9, 1934, in regard to the remarks of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the House of Peers relative to a division of the Pacific Ocean into Japanese and American zones, and particularly to the last paragraph of the despatch, in which it was suggested that the interpellations of Baron Sakamoto and the reply of the Minister for Foreign Affairs may have been previously arranged and intended as “feelers”, in an attempt to ascertain the sentiment of the world toward Japanese control of Far Eastern waters.

I am now convinced that Mr. Hirota has some plan in mind, probably in connection with the forthcoming naval disarmament conferences, of proposing an agreement establishing American and Japanese zones in the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Hirota definitely told an American newspaper correspondent in Tokyo (Mr. Wilfrid Fleisher, correspondent for the New York Herald-Tribune) that he was considering, as a means of improving Japanese-American relations, the division of the Pacific Ocean into two “zones”, American and Japanese. He added, however, that he had as yet not been able to formulate the plan.

The Tokyo Jiji on April 5, 1934, published an article purporting to contain the Foreign Minister’s instructions to Prince Konoe, who is to leave for the United States in May and who is reported to have been asked by Mr. Hirota to discuss informally various matters with American officials. According to the Jiji, the instructions to Prince Konoe contained the following:

“Japan is prepared to consider suggestions for establishment of neutral zones in the Pacific, and to strengthen the agreement regarding Pacific fortifications,20 in an effort to maintain the peace of the Pacific.”

While the above may be only an emanation from the fertile mind of a Japanese newspaper reporter, when taken in connection with the above-mentioned remarks of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to Mr. Fleisher [Page 644] it appears probable that Prince Konoe has been delegated to “feel out” the reaction of American officials and others toward some such proposition.

Respectfully yours,

Joseph C. Grew
  1. See article XIX of the naval treaty signed at Washington February 6, 1922, between the United States, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan, Foreign Relations, 1922, vol. i, p. 247.