Peace on the Pacific-Japan and the United States

Abstract

IT is always delightful, as Confucius once said, to have friends come to visit you from afar. I feel particular pleasure in welcoming you to Japan, because you have come in response to the call of a cause which is very dear to my heart and which in importance transcends most other objects of human endeavour, namely, peace and goodwill on earth. Taking as I do warm and personal interest in the noble aims and work of our Institute, I would have liked very much to have had the pleasure of personally taking a part, however humble it may be, in the important discussions in which you are now engaged. But considerations of health compel me, to my deep regret, to forego that pleasure, and I have to be contented with greeting you vicariously through a written message. I am not presumptuous enough to believe myself capable of making any worthwhile contribution on any subject under discussion. I must, however, crave your kind indulgence for a few minutes, for my concern about peace on the Pacific is too great to permit me to let pass a unique opportunity like this. Now to come to the point at once, I want to say that peace on the Pacific depends largely upon good understanding and harmonious cooperation between Japan and the United States. Not that I mean to belittle the importance of any other country bordering on this ocean. But in the present state of affairs, no fair-minded observer will deny the obvious truth that without friendship and understanding between these two nations the maintenance of peace on the Pacific will be difficult, if not impossible. The realization of this fact, coupled with a peculiar personal experience of my early life, induced me to consecrate the last quarter of my somewhat extended life on the altar of friendship between Japan and America. And if Heaven spares me yet, it is my fervent wish to devote my remaining time and energy to that sacred cause. It was when I was a small boy of fourteen, living on my father's estate not far from Yedo, the seat of the Shogun's court, that Commodore Perry loudly knocked at our door and