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

The Countdown Begins 183
offi ce, was “nonplused;” he asked, “What speech?” 7 Th e Japanese
government cabled an explanation.
Th e Washington embassy’s fi rst secretary, Hidenari Terasaki,
called on Joseph W. Ballantine, a State Department offi cial, on
December 2, and told Ballantine that he had not come to “vindicate”
themselves or to “make any explanation. [He] merely
wished to state the facts.” 8 Relying on his government’s explanation,
Terasaki discounted the importance of the speech and also
its belligerence. Th e “so-called speech . . . was originally drafted by
members of the offi ce staff of the East Asia Restoration League, a
non-governmental organization of which Mr. Tojo happens to be
president.” It had been given out to newspaper reporters Saturday
evening, November 29,
before the said draft was examined by either the Premier himself
or other Government offi cials, and this unapproved manuscript
was printed in the metropolitan newspapers. As a matter
of fact, the Premier himself made no speech of any kind on the
30th. . . . It should further be noted that the reported statement
“For the honor and pride of mankind we must purge this sort
of practice from East Asia with a vengeance” is a mistranslation.
. . . Th e correct translation of the statement should be “For
the honor and pride of mankind, this sort of practice must be
removed.” 9
7 Department of State, Japan: 1931–1941, vol. 2, p. 777, as reported by the
Japanese Embassy’s First Secretary Terasaki to State Department’s Joseph W.
Ballantine.
8 Joint Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 12, p. 223, message #1234.
9 Department of State, Japan: 1931–1941, vol. 2, p. 777–78, memorandum of
Terasaki’s conversation with Ballantine and statement handed Ballantine by
Terasaki.