19 Feb. 1946 Q. I had been under the impression that Hitler had invited MATSUOKA to come over to Germany. A. Not so far as I know. Q. If the invitation to MATSUOKA came from Germany would it have been extended through you as Ambassador? A. Rather than that - MATSUOKA had been saying that he would like to go abroad even before I had left Japan. Q. Were these arrangements for MATSUOKA’s trip made before you returned to Germany as Ambassador or after you returned? A. There are not a great many preparations to be made anyway, but as far as notifying Germany that he was coming, I believe that was done before I was named Ambassador. Q. Do you know what your predecessor as Ambassador indicated to the German Government was the reason for the proposed trip by MATSUOKA? A. I had nothing to do with these negotiations. I believe the plans were made in Tokyo. Q. But you arrived in Berlin several weeks before MATSUOKA came over, and didn’t you find out what was given as the official purpose of his trip? A. There was no communication to me of what his reasons were to be for the trip. I was simply notified of his day of arrival. Q. Do you know the date that Germany commenced war against Russia? A. I had thought of speaking to you about Russo-German relations and so I have the dates, etc., written down here. Q. I have one question I want to ask you before we leave this point, relative to the Non-Aggression Pact which was entered into between Japan and Russia. Before I ask you that question I want to know the date of the commencement of the German-Russian war, if you know what it is. A. June 22, 1941. Q. General, did you have any advance information from the German Government that they were going to attack Russia? A. I shall speak to you more fully on this as we go along, but around the 10th of June, I received word of this from Hitler. Q. Are you certain that you did not know about it at the time MATSUOKA was in Berlin? A. I did not know about it. Q. Tell me, why did Japan want this Non-Aggression Pact with Russia? A. Japan’s wish I believe was to solidify relations in the North, as she was not sure what would subsequently occur to the south. Q. What do you mean by that when you say that Japan was not sure of what might subsequently take place to the south. What did you have in mind? A. I believe it arose from the desire to protect the North in case Japan was dragged into the war with the advent of a German-United States conflict. 111