20 Feb. 1946 A. As I recall it, arrangements for MATSUOKA’s visit were discussed at the time when Yugoslavia entered the Alliance late in March. Q. But what I want to know is this - this meeting in March of 1941, to which you have been addressing yourself this afternoon, was not that meeting in fact a meeting between you and Ribbentrop, at which you were discussing matters to be taken up when your superior, the Foreign Minister of Japan, arrived in Germany, which would then be in the very near future? A. Definitely not. Q. I am having difficulty understanding how you can be so sure when you are not able to tell us definitely when this meeting was held. A. I definitely had no instructions from the Japanese Foreign Office to make certain preparations or discuss certain matters prior to MATSUOKA’s visit and, therefore, while I may not definitely remember the date I can state positively that I did not discuss matters relative to his coming. Q. You have demonstrated time and again that you have held discussions with the German officials without any instructions from your Foreign Office. I did not ask you whether you had instructions from your Foreign Office. I want to know if without instructions from your Foreign Office you did not sit down with Ribbentrop and discuss some of the things that would be the subject of conversations when MATSUOKA arrived. It seems to me that it would be the logical thing to do. Certainly Ribbentrop would want to take full advantage of MATSUOKA’s presence and that it was only to be expected that he would sit down with you and discuss these things that later would be the subject of some conversation with the Chief of your Foreign Office, namely, MATSUOKA. A. I had no instructions from Japan, nor did we discuss anything relative to what would be discussed when MATSUOKA came to Germany. As a matter of fact, I was of the opinion at the time that MATSUOKA’s visit would accomplish nothing, and had my doubts as to the worth of it. Q. I have information, reliable information, to the effect that you did have some such discussions with Ribbentrop. Now, I want you to think it over, and when we come back tomorrow I want you to be prepared to discuss it with us a little more, because I feel reasonably certain that you are not making a full disclosure on this particular point. A. I do not believe we did discuss anything further, but I shall think it over. 120