793.94119/689: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State79
[Received 1:05 p.m.]
1171–1172. Dr. Charles B. Fahs, Assistant Professor of Oriental Affairs, Pomona and Claremont Colleges, who is passing through Japan on his way to Peiping, had conversations November 18 with Mr. Juji Matsumoto, President of the Foreign Department, Domei, and Mr. Tomohiko Ushiba, private secretary to Premier Konoye.
Mr. Matsumoto, who was formerly chief of Domei in China and who was reportedly offered the Ambassadorship to the United States, told Dr. Fahs that he had just returned from China where he had been endeavoring to instigate negotiations with the Chungking Government. While he did hot actually say so, he gave the impression that Japan had not yet recognized the Wang Ching Wei government; in fact, he stated that commitments already made to Wang were becoming exceedingly embarrassing as far as the negotiations with Chungking were concerned. Mr. Matsumoto did not express any opinion as to the success of his mission, but admitted that negotiations would be long and protracted. He seemed to feel that there was some possibility of eventual agreement, remarking that both China and Japan had learned much from the present incident.
[Page 439]Mr. Ushiba remarked that things were very “difficult” with the present government, much less pleasant than at the time of the previous Konoye Cabinet. He intimated that there might be a change in government, suggesting that his own present post was insecure. Mr. Ushiba stated further that most policies of the present government were actually being decided by lower effectiveness [officials?] in the various Ministries, that in many cases the Ministers themselves lacked sufficient experience and technical knowledge. He pointed out the tripartite pact as an exception: the responsibility for it, he said, rested entirely with Premier Konoye and Mr. Matsuoka, no one else having been consulted.
Mr. Ushiba verified a report which Dr. Fahs had heard from another source: namely, that Mitsuru Toyama, head of the Black Dragon Society, is decidedly opposed to the “Yoku-sankai” (imperial rule assistance organ) on the ground that it violates the Japanese constitution. This is interesting in view of the inestimable yet important influence of the Black Dragon in Japanese politics.
- The two sections of this message, transmitted as telegrams Nos. 1171–1172, are printed as one document.↩