The Pittsburgh Press (April 28, 1941)
JAP-U.S. NEUTRALITY PACT SUGGESTED TO MATSUOKA
By H. O. Thompson, United Press staff writer
Tokyo, April 28 –
Reflecting the desire of certain Japanese circles for a vigorous effort to adjust strained Japanese-American relations, the well-known political expert, Masanori Itō, today suggested that Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka visit Washington in an effort to conclude a Japanese-American non-aggression treaty.
Itō, one of Japan’s best known commentators and naval experts, advanced his suggestion in the conservative newspaper Chugai Shogyo Simpo, long considered an organ of the powerful Mitsui family, which controls banks, industrial concerns, shipping lines, and merchandising companies.
The commentator said that if it could be arranged for Matsuoka to fly to one of Japan’s South Seas ports, and go thence to Guam to board a Pan American Airways Clipper, the Foreign Minister should be able to make the round trip to Washington within a month.
The Foreign Minister proved his ability in face-to-face negotiations by obtaining a neutrality pact with Russia, during his recent visit in Moscow, Itō said, and should be able to do much for Japanese-American relations if he could talk personally with President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull.
If an arrangement for Matsuoka to get a Clipper at Guam is impossible, the commentator said, Matsuoka certainly could get an American plane at Honolulu after traveling to Hawaii on a Japanese ship.
If the Foreign Minister should go to Washington, the commentator said, the main purpose of his mission would be:
…to induce the United States to understand the essentially peaceful meaning of Japan’s proposed great East Asia sphere of mutual peace and prosperity.
He said a strong section of Japanese opinion favors the mission in a belief it would eliminate war clouds from the Pacific.
There can be no question, he said, that war between Japan and the United States is possible so long as Washington persists in viewing all acts of this country with suspicion.