"Presidential Letter" entrusted to avoid the start of the war between Japan and the United States December 20, 19:41

After a Japanese attack aircraft took off toward Pearl Harbor.

A letter under Emperor Showa was delivered.

The sender was "President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States."


Behind this letter was a Japanese scholar who worked to the end to avoid the start of the war between Japan and the United States.

What is the "Presidential Letter" that this scholar, who foresaw the start of the war between Japan and the United States for 30 years, finally entrusted his hopes?

(Tokyo Metropolitan Area Reporter Takuma Yamauchi)

Japanese on the presidential letter

(Dispelling the dark clouds)


"I hope to consider how to clear

the dark clouds.

"



This is a passage from the letter sent to Emperor Showa by President Roosevelt of the United States just before the start of the war.

It arrived around 3:00 am on December 8th.


It was already after the attack aircraft took off toward Pearl Harbor.



It is said that there was a Japanese scholar behind the delivery of this letter.

That person was Kanichi Asakawa, who was a professor at Yale University at the time.



After graduating from Waseda University, he moved to the United States in 1895.


As a history expert, he also influenced Western intellectuals.

Risk of opening the war “Foreseeing 30 years ago”

It is known that Asakawa, who settled in the United States, felt a sense of caution about Japan spreading in the United States from early on.

It is a passage of "Japanese evil machine" written in 1909 after the Russo-Japanese War.



"If Japan unfortunately fights against the Qing dynasty (China) and the United States, the war will fight as an enemy of civilization, a country of private songs (to cheat for its own benefit) that is truly isolated from the world. It must be something. ”



Asakawa pointed out that Japan's promotion of control in Manchuria in northeastern China after the Russo-Japanese War is only a“ immediate national interest ”.



"If you get drunk and neglect to point out future national harm," he analyzes, "Japan should be isolated under the heavens without knowing it, and the world should become an enemy."



For more than 30 years, I had foreseen the danger that Japan could start a war between Japan and the United States if it made a mistake in its course.

Shigenobu Okuma, Ichiro Hatoyama, Soho Tokutomi ... The alarm bell that kept ringing

Asakawa will take direct action to avoid the conflict between Japan and the United States.



Many letters entrusted me with that thought.

Fukushima Prefectural Library

At the prefectural library in Fukushima Prefecture, which is my hometown, there are many copies of more than 2500 letters sent and received by Asakawa.

Looking at the other party, Hirobumi Ito, Shigenobu Okuma, Eiichi Shibusawa, Soho Tokutomi, Ichiro Hatoyama ... The political and business world, scholars and journalists, and their targets are wide-ranging.



So what exactly did Asakawa complain about in the letter?



Let's take a look at the letters after the Manchurian Incident.

Letter to Toshitake Okubo February 21, 1932

1932, the year after the Manchurian Incident.


This is a letter addressed to Toshitake Okubo, a member of the House of Lords, following the Japanese military action in China.

"If public opinion in the United States wants sanctions on Japan, we cannot guarantee that the government will not agree with the sanctions."


"It seems unlikely that a country using such a method of violence has a fair purpose. "Hmm."


"Japan took military action alone, which is why the world was indignant."

Asakawa points out that worsening public opinion toward Japan in the United States may lead to sanctions.


On top of that, he argues about military operations in China by comparing it to the relationship between private homes.

"In an individual society, it would not normally be possible to invade, strike, sort out, and expel a family member in an attempt to rectify the problem of a neighbor's house (neighboring country)." I'm worried. Even a temporary improvement will create a worse situation. "

Okubo's older brother is Nobuaki Makino, an aide to the emperor.


It seems that there was also an aim to convey the American atmosphere around Emperor Showa.

Letter to Kintaro Saito (nephew) November 20, 1938

In 1936, when the coup d'etat "February 26 Incident" by the youth officers of the Army occurred, the military further strengthened its voice in politics.



Asakawa points out the danger that public opinion is flowing in one direction while the objective international situation in Japan is not fully shown.

"I'm sorry that Japan doesn't know what the world is like."


"If you don't let the people

know what's going on, it's not

only time to cause great damage to Japan, but it's also a huge disadvantage. It will be in the state "


" if Toboshikere the national findings made at this time, the general of the people's is the most sorry "

Tsunami Murata (Educator) Wan Shujian July 29, 1939

"The failure of Japan's foreign affairs in the past few years has been to think about things in a self-locking manner. It is a natural responsibility to do, and it is absolutely necessary for the future of the country. It is not the time for those who think this way to hesitate to argue for fear of others. Why do we shut up for fear of danger? "



"We should argue honestly and approach the authorities. Compared to the fact that frontline soldiers are betting their lives every moment, the danger of direct theory is insignificant."

Letter to Ichiro Hatoyama January 28, 1940

In January 1940, the Japan-US Trade and Navigation Treaty will be revoked.


As a result, the United States has become able to restrict exports of oil and other products to Japan.



Japan, which imported most of the oil from the United States, is in dire straits.



This is a letter to Ichiro Hatoyama, who was an influential member of the House of Representatives at that time.


"The word crisis is valid today," he warns strongly.

"Why do people generally disagree with Japanese behavior for the same reason? If you don't have the ability to understand this reason correctly, you may always have a misunderstanding in your relationship with the United States."


"Why interests

?"

trying to Musubo Germany and Kokuun ignorant of, or has led to the attempt to the enemy the United States and Britain that Kokuun is leading, "


" if we continue to attitude, or diplomacy, of course, domestic politics, economy, society is what happens. This more It is a surprising phenomenon that we think that if we fulfill the "new order" while having the huge problem of the United States, we will be lucky. Germany has also come to the present state with the "new order". Naturally, I try to push through crampedness with my own reason, which is in sharp agreement with Japan for several years. "


" I have to think that the word "crisis

"

is valid today. "

"President's letter" entrusted with the last hope

Many letters are empty, and Japan and the United States deepen the conflict.



In November 1941, the United States presented Japan with a "Hull Note" calling for Japan to withdraw from China and French Indochina.



At this time when the road to avoiding the start of the war was finally being closed, the breakthrough plan that Asakawa entrusted with his last hope was the issuance of a letter from President Roosevelt to Emperor Showa.

Seven draft presidential letters prepared by Asakawa for the issuance of letters.


The copy is left in Fukushima Prefecture.

Draft Presidential Letter of Asakawa (Part)

「貴国が今直面している重大な危機は、歴代の政権の努力にもかかわらず本質的な解決に少しもいたっていないばかりか、日々、両国民の福祉と二国間の平和を脅かすようになっている。貴国との間で1世紀近くの友好関係を保った国の元首としてお伝えすべきときが来たと思う。


過去のアメリカ大統領の先例に従うことになるが、2つの例をあげると、1905年、日本陸海軍の日露戦争の大勝利のあと名誉ある日露平和条約締結の調停を行ったことであり、またその半世紀前にペリー提督を派遣して孝明(明治)天皇に親善のメッセージを送ったことである。


貴国の内政に干渉するつもりは全くないが、貴国の指導者たちがいかに危機を乗り越えて文明開化のみちを進み世界を驚かしたかということを、陛下に想起願うことは許されるだろう。


特に7世紀半ば以降、貴国の政治家たちは、これまで過去の過ちを率直にみとめ緊急な改革のための手段を幾度となく講じてきた。行き詰まりを招いた施政者や方針を一掃し、正しい権益と歴史的使命を促進させる政治の正道を実行する能力をいかんなく発揮できた国は、数少ないだろう。


アメリカは日本の今日について、過去同様、もしくはそれ以上の危機にあると見ており、我々が祈願するのは日本が再び自由意思によって通常の社会に進むことである。この危機は最近始まったものであり、貴国がこれまでに経験した危機と比べ、その根は浅い。


陛下よ、私を信じたまえ。我が国の願いと貴国の伝統や将来を懸念する思いがこの異例の方法をとらせるに至ったのである。


私たちは、日本が各国が他国の法や制度を尊重する親交関係への復帰という奇跡的な状況の変化を思い浮かべざるを得ない」

The Asakawa draft looks back on the history between Japan and the United States and what Japan has overcome the crisis in the past (Taika Reform, Meiji Restoration, etc.). It's a shallow thing. "



It was a call for change in Japan's response.

The draft is handed over to several aides to the president through the hands of acquaintances of American researchers.



Apart from the movement of Asakawa, the movement to issue a letter from the president to the emperor was also explored by the Japanese embassy, ​​but Asakawa did not know the details.



However, Asakawa's draft is believed to have been used as a reference by the American side in completing the final letter.

The completed letter will be published on December 6, 1941, US time.

(Official translation of the Government of Japan remaining in the Foreign Ministry's Foreign Affairs Museum)


"About a century ago, the President of the United States wrote to the Emperor of Japan and offered friendship to the Japanese people.


" Believe that it is clear that they agree to remove any form of military threat. "


" The removal of the Japanese army from the French seal (Indochina)

should bring

about a guarantee of peace in the entire South Pacific region. "


I hope that His Majesty will not consider how to clear the dark clouds as well as I do."

The writing was in line with Asakawa's draft and called for a change in Japan's response.



However, there were many differences in the content that urged concrete actions such as the withdrawal of the Japanese army from Indochina.

Guru, the US Ambassador to Japan, received the sent letter in the form of a telegram on the night of the 7th of Japan time.



After that, the time when Ambassador Gru passed through Foreign Minister Togo and arrived at the Emperor was around 3:00 am on the 8th.


Immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the avoidance of the war that Asakawa had hoped for did not come true.



Although the letter arrived, it did not reach the goal of avoiding the start of the war.

Japan's "air" that Kan'ichi Asakawa was worried about

Historian Makoto Iokibe, who is familiar with the history of diplomacy between Japan and the United States, points out that Asakawa has long felt the danger of "the air surrounding Japanese society."

Makoto Iokibe


"Even in Japan, we must not lose the glory gained in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, we must not descend from what our predecessors have built, and it is a clear fate to expand the territory of control. There were many feelings of a holy mission among the general public. When the country took the lead on the external side, I was supposed to applaud. Under such circumstances, Kuniichi Asakawa went to the United States. That's why I can see the danger well. He thought that doing this would make Japan difficult, and even the danger of destroying the country. He sounded the alarm all the time. is"

In addition, Makoto Iokibe touches on the characteristics of Japanese society and points out that there is much to be learned from Asakawa's attitude.

"When politics with power heads for a clash, there are times when it can't be helped and no one can stop it. Many people think,'Because I'm a powerless civilian,' but Asakawa. In that case, you had a very strong sense of mission for the fate of the country and the fate of the international community. With a belief based on your own academic research, you tried to manage the actual politics. rice field"

"As in any country, especially in Japan, it's quite difficult to say something different when a certain trend of recognition begins to go to one side." It would be nice if it was a good harmony, but even when it was a harmony that would lead to strange destruction, I think there is a weight in Japanese society that makes it difficult to speak out. With that in mind, Asakawa's earnest thought was that there should be more people who would raise their voices even if they were opposed by everyone. I think that the spirit is more and more necessary for Japan, and when there is a person like Asakawa, I want a civil society that will do its best if it is true even if it is not the trend of society. It is that"

Letter to Tsutomu Murata November 30, 1947

Three years after the end of the war, Asakawa died in the United States.



The year before, a letter to an acquaintance in Japan said:

"The characteristic of the Japanese is that it is a compromise. He hated the actions of the military but did not oppose it and refused to be expelled."


"The more democratic the government, the more individual morals and responsibilities. Democracy needs this above all else. "


Takuma Yamauchi, a

reporter for the Tokyo Metropolitan Area,


joined the

station in

2007.

After working at the Nagasaki Bureau and the Fukuoka Bureau, the Social Affairs Department of the News Bureau.

After working as a prosecutor, he has been in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Bureau since 2020.

Responsible for the Constitution and Corona coverage.