THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT 285
FAR EASTERN (JAPAN).
CONFIDENTIAL.
December 6, 1938.
SECTION 6.
[F 12963/152/23]
Copy No. 130
Sir R. Craigie to Viscount Halifax. (Received December 6.)
(No. 864.) My Lord,
Tokyo, November 3, 1938.
I HAD the honour in my telegram No. 1258 of the 29th October to report to your Lordship that Mr. Hachiro Arita and Mr. Yoshiaki Hatta had been appointed respectively to the offices of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Overseas Affairs in the Cabinet of Prince Konoye.
2. The Prime Minister, after his failure upon General Ugaki's resignation to find a suitable successor to fill the vacancy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, appears to have succeeded admirably in keeping his plans secret; for the announcement that his choice had fallen upon Mr. Arita came without any previous notice whatever. It was thought that an appointment would be made before the Imperial Diet assembled in December, but reports in regard to Prince Konoye's intentions were most contradictory, and for the moment interest in the matter seemed almost to have disappeared as the public mind was fully occupied with the fall of Hankow and its possible repercussions upon the inter- national situation. Mr. Matsuoka, president of the South Manchuria Railway Company, was perhaps the "favourite," colour being lent to the rumour that he would succeed General Ugaki by press reports that he had recently submitted his resignation from his present office.
3. There is no doubt that Mr. Matsuoka, who is a very ambitious man, would have liked the post, but I had myself thought it unlikely that he would be selected for the reason that, although he stands well with the army, he is not popular in business and Foreign Office circles. I had hardly anticipated, however, that either Mr. Arita or Mr. Sato, both of whom had been mentioned as possible successors to General Ugaki, but both of whom had so lately resigned from the post of adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to which they had been appointed by him, would be in a position to accept office. I am not personally acquainted with the new minister, but it is clear that he is by no means so forceful a personality as General Ugaki, and it is easy to understand the feeling of disappointment upon his selection which, as reported in my telegram No. 1262 of the 31st October, may be said to be the keynote of press comment upon his appointment. It is recognised that his ability as an official and his knowledge of China, gained by personal experience, fit him in many respects for the post. But it is clear that in these days the position of the Minister for Foreign Affairs is not what it was, that the real authority in deciding the policy of the Japanese Government vis-à-vis foreign countries lies with the Five Ministers Conference, and that in these circumstances the main task of the Minister for Foreign Affairs must be to give effect to the decisions of that body. His position will tend to become all the more difficult when the new China Board begins to function, as it is expected to do in the course of the next week or so.
4. In a recent article in the Chuo Koron, Mr. Arita is described as friendly to Great Britain and a believer in methods of conciliation, and it is recalled that during his occupancy some years ago of the post of Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs he found himself in direct opposition to Mr. Shiratori, who was then director of the Information Bureau, over the issue of withdrawal from the League of Nations. This serves to confirm the impression which I have that the new minister is a man of liberal views. Moreover, it seems to be generally understood that, though he was Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time of the conclusion of the anti-Comintern Pact in November 1936, he actually had little to do with the negotiations leading up to it, which, I am told. were mainly conducted by Lieutenant-General Oshima, now Japanese Ambassador in Berlin, and Herr von Ribbentrop. This is borne out by a member of my staff, who heard Mr. Arita
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