Home at last from his travels to the capitals of Totalitaria, busy little Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka last week reported to an anxious Japan the things he had done and the friends he had made. On the whole the report went down well. First there was a Cabinet meeting, from which Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye was absent, as usual, with a cold. The Foreign Minister was subjected to what the Japanese press called "sincere and cautious questions" by Home Minister Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma, Guardian of Imperial Rule, and by Justice Minister Lieut. General Heisuke Yanagawa. They asked about the implications of the Russo-Japanese Neutrality Pact and about "thought problems at home."
Among the thought problems was that of Communism. General Yanagawa observed that Japanese Communists were raising their heads again and felt that this problem was made no easier by the publication of photographs of Mr. Matsuoka and Mr. Stalin arm in arm. What criticism, if any, the Ministers made of the pact was not disclosed, but the newspaper Hochi had some very pertinent things to say.
Hochi published a list of five demands on Russia to reinforce the pact, most important of which was the demand that Russia stop helping China's Chiang Kaishek. Russia, said Hochi, was merely continuing to adhere to "the utilitarian policy of waiting for Japan, Germany and Italy to become exhausted in order to fish in troubled waters."
But the Cabinet accepted the pact; the Privy Council, sitting in the presence of the Son of Heaven, approved it unanimously. Next evening Emperor Hirohito sanctioned it. The press hinted broadly that Mr. Matsuoka should next go to the U.S., and perhaps to Great Britain, to try to win Greater East Asia by negotiation.
Even the Foreign Minister seemed to be indulging in wishful thinking on that point. Scarcely had he set foot on Japanese soil than he delivered himself of a speech in which he said: "It is extremely reckless to maintain relations with persons that one has not even met. Only a fool or a genius can do that."
This appeasement feeler got a prompt negative response from both Britain and the U.S. In Washington Secretary of State Cordell Hull said plainly that U.S.-Japanese relations would get no better so long as Japan pursued her present foreign policy. From Singapore, U.S.-made, Australian-manned bombing planes roared 100 miles to sea to meet a second batch of men and machines to reinforce that vital British fortress. Said Major General Lionel Vivian Bond, Commander of the British land forces in Malaya: "The United States Fleet is the most powerful factor deterring the activity of an enemy of Britain in the Pacific area." Between them the U.S. and Britain had told Japan that:
1) Japan will get nothing except by force;
2) force will be met by force.
As a person whose judgment is greatly influenced by personal impressions, Foreign Minister Matsuoka may well translate his personal impressions of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin into Japanese foreign policy. Last week Japan learned just what those impressions had been. Colonel Yat-suji Nagai, a member of the Foreign Minister's suite, told of Matsuoka's meeting with Hitler.