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.


[584] The Chargé in the Philippines ( Harrington ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/5–3051: Telegram


[586] The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Gifford ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–451: Telegram


[587] The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Gifford ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–451: Telegram


[588] The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Gifford ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–551: Telegram


[589] The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Gifford ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–651: Telegram


[590] The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Gifford ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–751: Telegram


[594] The Chargé in the Philippines ( Harrington ) to the Secretary of State

694.001/6–1251: Telegram


[597] The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Philippines

694.001/6–1451: Telegram


[599] The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

694.001/6–2151: Telegram


[600] The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Philippines

694.001/6–2251: Telegram


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

694.001/6–2251: Telegram


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

694.001/6–2351: Telegram


[605] Memorandum of Conversation, by the Third Secretary of the Mission in Japan (Finn)

Tokyo Post Files: 320.1 Peace Treaty


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

694.001/6–2551: Telegram


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

694.001/6–2551: Telegram


[608] The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

694.001/6–2551: Telegram


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

694.001/6–2651: Telegram


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

694.001/6–2651: Telegram


[611] Memorandum by the Consultant to the Secretary (Dulles)

Lot 54D423


[612] Memorandum of Conversation, by the Third Secretary of the Mission in Japan (Finn)

Tokyo Post Files: 320.1 Peace Treaty