711.9411/14
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 13, 1936.]
Sir: The British Ambassador told me today that in a recent conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hirota had said to him that war between either Japan and the United States or Japan and Great Britain was out of the question and that as soon as some “general understanding” could be reached between these countries with a view to affording security for the future the naval problem and the oil problem and other outstanding issues would rapidly solve themselves. Mr. Hirota’s remark was occasioned by a suggestion on the part of Sir Robert Clive that, since the oil difficulties arose from the desire of the Japanese military and naval authorities to assure themselves of an adequate supply of oil in the case of war, a guarantee by the oil companies to supply a given quantity of oil for a definite period, of say ten years, might be sufficient to satisfy these demands.
The Ambassador received the distinct impression that in making the foregoing remarks Mr. Hirota had in mind the tentative proposal for the conclusion of non-aggression pacts which had been mentioned in the press from time to time last year. The Ambassador was convinced that Japan could, under no circumstances, participate in a general pact including the other countries in the Far East because, in the first place, the Japanese are suspicious of multilateral conventions and, in the second place, they could not afford, under present circumstances, to include either Soviet Russia or China in any such non-aggression pact. The thought of separate pacts with the United States and Great Britain, however, appears still to be in the Minister’s mind as a possible future eventuality.
In this connection the Ambassador said that the Japanese military officers with whom one comes into touch in Tokyo are still talking of eventual war between Japan and Soviet Russia as absolutely inevitable.
Respectfully yours,