THE POLICY OF APPEASEMENT : JAPANESE STYLE 135

delegations and the acceptance of their communications. He was
informed that the delegations are usually received with courtesy,
but that the Embassy has consistently refused to accept, on behalf
of the United States, any memorandums, protests, or other communi-
cations addressed to the Government or to officials of the United
States, maintaining that such communications, coming as they do
from Japanese sources, must pass through the usual and proper
channels, namely, the Japanese Foreign Office and the Japanese
Embassy at Washington.

Persistent adherence of our Embassy to this procedure apparently
has succeeded in discouraging attempts by patriotic and other societies
to put their ideas before us, as no attempts to present communications
to the American Government through the Embassy have been made
by these societies since my arrival, although at several periods such
attempts might have been expected.

THE POLICY OF APPEASEMENT: JAPANESE STYLE

(Mr. Grew to Mr. Prentiss B. Gilbert, American Consul,
Geneva., Switzerland]

Tokyo, May 17, 1934
Confidential

DEAR MR. GILBERT,—I acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your
letter of April 5. In answer to your letter and in compliance with
the suggestion contained therein I shall endeavour to outline briefly
the present political situation here with particular reference to the
Japanese attitude towards international co-operation both at present
and in relation to the basic Japanese policy of dominating East Asia.

In your letter you remark that " one gains the distinct impression
that, having achieved to such a large degree their objective in Man-
churia, the Japanese are now endeavouring to effect an appeasement
of the feeling against them in every direction possible." That is, in
fact, the specific task which Hirota has set himself as Foreign Minister,
Accordingly—to use the phrases current in the Japanese press—
for the " desperate diplomacy " of Count Uchida there has been
substituted the " national defence by diplomacy " of Mr. Hirota.

In promoting his policy of conciliation Hirota has shown force
and ability. He came into office last September at a moment when
the pendulum of public feeling was tending to resume the norm.
Already Shiratori, the aggressive spokesman of the Foreign Office,
had been forced out. The resignation of Count Uchida was in itself
a blow to military influence. Within a few weeks commenced the
momentous " Five Ministers* Conference " at which Hirota by con-
fronting Araki with pure common sense is believed to have won ids
pledge not to interfere in matters of foreign policy. And then in
January, Araki himself, the high priest of the military cult, found