"Demystifying Pearl Harbor"

by Takeo Iguchi

Monday, May 10, 2010 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm

(The speech and Q & A will be in English)

More than six decades after the end of World War II, the question that still puzzles many historians is, why Japan went ahead with the "surprise attack" on Pearl Harbor without following the normal diplomatic procedure of Informing the United States of termination of all negotiations before the attack had taken place. For very long the official Japanese sources blamed the Japanese embassy in Washington for delaying the transmission of a note to the State Department and thus creating the controversy. Nearly seventy years after Pearl Harbor, a former Japanese diplomat and scholar, Takeo Iguchi, looked at the issue on the basis of massive archival research that revealed some documents whose existence had not even been known and came to a convincing conclusion that it was more of a failure of Japanese diplomacy that resulted in the delay of delivering the message to the State Department before the Pearl Harbor attack. The author had carried out extensive research in Japanese and US archives, and also interviewed Foreign Ministry ex-officials who were directly or indirectly involved in the Pearl Harbor drama.

In this ground-breaking book, Takeo Iguchi points out that individuals in the military and possibly the foreign ministry colluded to delay Foreign Ministry telegrams to Washington to protect the secrecy of the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor and Southeast Asia. After Japan's defeat, the collusion was covered up in order to evade personal responsibility and protect the superiors. The blame for the delay in notification was firmly placed on the Japanese embassy in Washington. Another revelation is why Japan did not notify Britain.

The in-depth scholarly research of the author also has a personal touch that makes the book more interesting. On 7 December 1941, he was in Washington, where his father, Sadao Iguchi, was posted as a councilor to the Japanese embassy. The elder Iguchi played a crucial role in preparing a note to the State Department, transmitting the final message from Tokyo; a task for which he had later been blamed for causing the fifty-minute gap. The book, however, shows that the long telegram the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo had sent to the embassy in Washington was intentionally delayed by the army in order to hide the impending assault. The author also implicates the Japanese Foreign Ministry in this delay, in essence accusing top ministry officials of succumbing to military pressure.

Originally published in Japanese, the publication of the English translation of "Demystifying Pearl Harbor" should be seen as a timely venture that would help scholars and researchers to understand the complexities of international diplomacy at the time when a country is on the verge of a deepening crisis.

Takeo Iguchi was born in Shanghai in 1930 and joined Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1953 after graduating from University of Tokyo Faculty of Law. He served as Japanese consul-general in Boston and as ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Bangladesh and New Zealand. After retiring from the government, he became professor at Tokai University Law School, visiting professor at International Christian University, and professor emeritus at Shobi-Gakuin University, teaching international law and politics. For the past decade he had written and lectured extensively on Japan’s Pearl Harbor Diplomacy.

A dinner will be served at a cost of 1,850 yen (including tax). Sign up　now at the reception desk (3211-3161) or online at　http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/5539. To help us plan proper seating and food　preparation, please reserve in advance, preferably by noon of the day of the event. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled.

Reservations cancelled less than 24 hours in advance will be charged in full.

Library Committee, THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB OF JAPAN