711.94/2004
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 2.]
Sir: With reference to Embassy’s 330, February 27, 10 p.m., reporting a conversation with Colonel Hideo Iwakuro (Iwaguro) of the Japanese Army General Staff, I have the honor to enclose a copy37 of a despatch telephoned to the New York Herald Tribune by its Tokyo correspondent on February 25, 1941, and which, it is understood, was not published by the Herald Tribune. The despatch summarizes an exclusive interview given to the correspondent by Colonel Iwaguro prior to his departure for the United States to assume duties in the Japanese Embassy at Washington as a “Special Adviser” to Ambassador Nomura.
Colonel Iwaguro stated that a war between Japan and the United States would be “one of the most stupid events that ever occurred.” He insisted that he was in a position to say that Japan would not resort to force in carrying out her program of southward expansion and denied that Japanese forces were preparing to take military, air and naval bases in Indochina and Thailand. Attributing rumors of a Far Eastern crisis to a third Power, the Colonel stated that establishment of military or naval bases in Thailand or the Netherlands East Indies by the United States would be construed as a “kind of military encirclement of Japan by America” and the consequences could not be predicted in such an eventuality. He expressed the opinion that war between Japan and the United States would not occur unless America resorted to military operations or declared war against Germany. Regarding China, he said that a merger of the Governments of Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei was necessary.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩