The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-11-16

der issued Nov. %, 1871, BY
"Admiral Harold F.. Stark, then chief
Of naval operations.
Stark instructed naval officials
at San Francisco to route all mer-
chant shipping on a southern route
and to provide necessary escort
lnglis testified copies of the or
der went to Admiral Husband r..
kimmel. commander in chief OF the
fleet at Pearl Harbor. and others
a Japanese message to Tokyo in
tercepted nearly a month before
Pearl Harbor described the lals
President Roosevelt as believing
then that Japan would be on the
move soon
The message. sent by Japanese
/ Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomua
on Nov. 10. 1871, quoted "a certain
cabinet member" as having tod
/ Nomura that Mr. Roosevelt and
the then Secretary OF State. Cor
| dell Hun, did not believe the i'm
pending peace conferences would
hlltl lut N'HHt ulHluUldllN Hlludllbll-
The peace conferences weie
shortly to begin with Nomura and
| special envoy SaburO Kuwsu rep
resenting the Japanese govern
ment.
In message that was decided
and translated by t. :. Army INTEL
igencN two days after it was sent,
Nomura said that on November =
a cabinet member had talked -
him Without naming him. the lap
anese ambassador quoted the CabI-
net official as follows.
"YOl are indeed a dear friend of
mine Gnd ! tell this to You alone.
| The lmeriCan government is re-
/ ceiving number OF reliable re-
/ ports that Japan will be on IN"
move soon. The American govern
( ment does not believe that your
visit on Monday to the President
or the coming Of MIR. kurusu will
have any effect on the general stu.
alton.
when NOmura protested that
neither the Iapanese government
. member was quoted AS replying
Well our boss, the President,
believes those reports and so does
. the Secretary Of State.
The Nomura message, sent after
T the ambassador had been advised
by Tokyo that November % was
the dcadline for concluding negu-
. tiations with the United states,
was one OF a series made public
| by thp Congressional investigating
/ Committee
/ The committee opened its formal
/ hearings yesterday with testimony
Of Array and Navy witnesses on the
( actua' attack made by the Japa-
nese at Pearl Harbor on Dec. T.
lg41 Today the committee was
promised by Chairman Barley
/ D-Ky)- a review OF the Japanese
version Of the attack This was
10 be furnished by the Army and
! Navy witnesses, Rear Adm. 7. y.
| Inglis and Col Bernard Thielen.
| from aptured japanese documents
First. however, the committee
planned to finish its crosseNamina-
ton o. the two on the initial phase
Of their testimony.
BEIGE a crowd iammed into
every corner of the committee
room Senator Ferguson tR-Mich 3
drove yesterday at the point that
Adm. Harold X. Stark, then chief
OF naval operations, had ordered
. Hawar;-bnund shipping rerouted 10
the south almost two weeks before
the japanese attack.
Advance knowledge
There remained little doubt. after
Yesterdays presentation OF the in
tercepted Japanese messages. that
/ Ofcia Washington knew Japan
was Oh the verge Of going to war.
From January, 1871, II months
before the attack, the United States
armed forces had been intercepting
and DECIDING japanese military
messages. They had broken the
Japarese diplomatic code by Aus.
3. 1871 and Tokyos instructions 10
its representatives in the world
capit6is were being read by Amer
/ leans.
II was i'm this flood Of messages
that Nomura's report on his CONVEX
sation with the cabinet officer stood
out. among those others.
The Japanese were reporting I'm
detail the movements Of the /. $.
| Pacif- fleet and continued report
ing It until the dav before the al
tack
They ordered their code books
and machines destroyed December
.
They apparently believed that
the United States and Great Bri-
tain were preparing TO occupy the
/ Netherlands East Indies and thev
were prepared to attack in that
area
The japanese told their Axis al.
lies as early as the last week In
November that negotiations with
/ the United States were broken of
and got Germany and Italian prom
ises ,u join with them II they went
10 war against the Americans
In the record of messages laid
before the committee were many
which indicated that Tokyo had
instructed its peace ambassadors
10 PLAY for time while the Iap1
npse tasf force already was steam
ing toward Pearl Harhor
Nowura and Kurusu were told hv
Tokyo in November 2> message
,f,,r, tf,ppI,r Doc.