The Aims of Japan

Abstract

IT IS with considerable diffidence that I venture to present briefly my views concerning Japan and her aims, for I am not at all certain that I can say anything which has not al ready been said many times. I do, however, welcome an oppor tunity of addressing American leaders in the world of thought and diplomacy. I should like to talk to them, as it were, in an informal, heart-to-heart fashion. That will serve best, I believe, the cause of Japanese-American friendship. I am firmly convinced, as a large number of Japanese are con vinced, that friendship between the United States and Japan is essential not only to both countries but to the welfare of the en tire world. Perhaps I may be permitted to be somewhat personal. Towards the end of 1929, on my way to the naval conference which was then about to open in London, I spent a few days in Washington, where I had the opportunity of conferring with President Hoover and Secretary Stimson. What was then upper most in my mind was how to advance Japan's friendly relations with the United States. To that end I considered it to be of the