Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

The Countdown Begins 181
Tokyo Orders the Japanese Ambassadors Not to
Break Off Negotiations But to Try Again
On Sunday, November 30, U.S. Navy decoders and translators
intercepted, deciphered, and translated Cable #857 from
Tokyo, informing the Japanese ambassadors in Washington to
“make one more attempt verbally.” Th ey should point out that
“Th e United States government has (always ?) taken a fair and
judicial position.” Th us,
the Imperial Government is at a loss to understand why it has
now taken the attitude that the new proposals we have made
cannot be made the basis of discussion, but instead has made
new proposals which ignore actual conditions in East Asia and
would greatly injure the prestige of the Imperial Government.
. . . [W]hat has become of the basic objectives that the U.S.
government has made the basis of our negotiations during
these seven months?
Th e two ambassadors were told that “in carrying out this
instruction” to continue their conversations with the United
States, they should “please be careful that this does not lead to
anything like a breaking off of negotiations.” 3 In compliance
with these instructions, the Japanese ambassadors requested an
appointment with Secretary of State Hull.
An Inflammatory Speech in Tokyo by
Japan’s Prime Minister Tojo
Th e Washington, D.C., newspaper headlines on Sunday,
November 30, quoted from an infl ammatory speech in Tokyo
3 79th Cong., 1st sess. Joint (Congressional) Committee on the Investigation
of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Pearl Harbor Attack, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Offi ce, 1946), part 12, p. 199. Tokyo to Washington
cable #857.