The Pittsburgh Press (July 23, 1941)
JAPAN FORCES FOREIGNERS TO REVEAL THEIR ASSETS
By Robert Bellaire, United Press staff writer
Tokyo, July 23 –
All foreigners in Japan were ordered today to list their personal assets, including clothing, with the Finance Ministry by July 31. After that date, they must report each three months on their income and expenditures.
Agents of the Finance Ministry called on foreign news agency offices today, including those of the United Press, and demanded a complete list of assets within Japan. They also investigated any funds sent abroad by the agencies and the agencies’ source of income.
The Dōmei news agency quoted charges that the United States was discriminating against Japan by refusing Japanese ships transit through the Panama Canal so Japanese crews could not see the nature of “repair work” now in progress.
Newspapers continued to attack alleged anti-Japanese activities by the United States and Great Britain in Indochina and Thailand. Some of them urged the government to take “immediate steps” to deal with the “increasing pressure” by America and Britain, lest Indochina and Thailand become “serious danger spots.”