68 THE ASSASSIN'S SHADOW LIES ACROSS JAPAN

while firmly maintaining our position with regard to the Kellogg
Pact, the Nine-Power Treaty, and the Open Door, to avoid any
unessential steps which might tend to reinflame public opinion and
give the military further strength. Friendly gestures such as the
comments about Japan in your recent speech in Philadelphia, the
friendly nature of which was finally acknowledged even by Shiratori,
and the President's message of sympathy concerning the Hochi fliers,
tend to help the hand of the moderate elements in the country.
This, I gather, is your own feeling. It seems to me that the more the
League's action on the Lytton Report can be tempered with friendly
and constructive suggestions, the more we shall gain rather than
lose in the long run. Our only hope of the eventual enforcement of
the peace treaties in the Far East lies in encouraging the moderate
elements in Japan.

In this connection, a remark made to the Military Attach^ by a
Japanese member of the General Staff is significant. The officer said :
" We are working overtime nowadays from 8 till 6 because we have
to run two separate departments, the War Ministry and the Foreign
Office.'5

Respectfully yours,

A JAPANESE FRIEND EXPLAINS THE ARMY'S
FEAR OF RUSSIA

A Japanese friend states that, when the Army first started on its
Manchurian adventure, the people of Japan looked doubtfully at
the matter. Later, when the League and the United States started
to condemn the Japanese for their actions, the people rallied behind
the Army, like all members of a family will stand behind one member
who is being attacked from outside. Just now they will not admit
that the Army was wrong, but, just like a family, eventually they
will admit that maybe the person who was attacked was in the
wrong. Any violent move against Japan now will strengthen this
family feeling and keep the Army in power, but if everyone stays
quiet for a while, there will be a feeling arising against the Army
and maybe the Shidehara diplomacy will return. Nations are like
people ; they do not like to be disliked.

The Army is trying very hard to keep in power, and they are
trying to keep the people aroused. They are trying to show the
people that the Army is necessary to the country. That was one of
the reasons why they started the Manchurian affair. There was a
feeling in Japan that the country had to have an economic outlet,
but also the Army felt that it would lose all influence if it did not
do something for the good of the country. If disarmament was
successful, the Army would not amount to anything in the future, so
they had to act to save their position.

The Japanese people are very nervous. They are like a boy who