26 Feb. 1946 conflict? A. No. Q. But on the other occasion when Ribbentrop talked with you he indicated to you that the German Army wanted Japan to come in. What did you say to Ribbentrop in reply to that suggestion from him? A. I told him that this was not up to me to decide and I would let the Japanese Government know of what he had said. Q. What was your personal feeling and attitude towards the proposition? A. Japan was not obligated to enter this conflict and it was something that I could not make a statement on one way or the other, so that all I conveyed to my Government was that this desire had been voiced. I received no answer to this communication. Q. But I want to know what your own personal attitude was, not your government’s A. Even as an individual I did not feel that Japan should enter the war. To add one further thing at this point: Ribbentrop as Foreign Minister was not cognizant of the detailed plans of the Army and overall large scale operations were related to me by Hitler. Detailed talks on military matters were handled in my Embassy by the Military and Naval Attaches, respectively, who told me about these talks. Q. What was Ribbentrop’s reaction when you failed to receive any reply from your government to your dispatch informing them of the request they had made of you that Japan join Germany in the conflict? A. This was not an official request from the German Government and simply was that the German Army desired it. I shall go into this matter further, but at this point I can at least tell you that while there were further telegrams there was never an answer from the Japanese Government. Q. Can you also tell me briefly now the reaction of Ribbentrop to your failure to receive a reply to these several dispatches? A. He never made any comment. I believe it would have been too much for him to expect an answer when only a few minutes before he had been talking about getting Russia into the Tripartite Alliance and had informed Japan of this desire. Japan on her part as an independent nation was not obligated to act on any such whim or desire on the part of the German Army or whoever it might be. From time to time, after the situation in Russia became difficult for the German Armies, I heard from my Military Attache that the German Army was very eager to have Japan join the conflict. Following this initial request from Ribbentrop there were two or three occasions on which he made the same request and based on which I sent telegrams to the Japanese Government. There were no answers. Q. On these occasions did you ever give Ribbentrop any encouragement or suggestion that you would do everything within your power to accomplish what he wanted? A. I did not. To continue, I never once heard from Hitler himself regarding Japan’s entry into the Russian conflict. All talks of this kind were with Ribbentrop. Also, following the outbreak of the conflict between the United States and Japan there were requests upon two or three occasions from the German Army to the Japanese Military Attache, and also from Ribbentrop to me. In general, this is the story of German-Soviet relations up until the outbreak of the Pacific War and of German- Soviet-Japanese relations also. If you have any questions please go ahead with them, because in so 150