GENERAL HEADQUARTERS SUPREME COMMANDER FOR THE ALLIED POWERS I. P. S. INTER OFFICE MEMORANDUM Subject: FOREIGN OFFICE INDICES From: Denzel CarrTo: Mr. F.S.Tavenner Date: May 23, 1947 1. Mr. Hayashi arrived in my office within five minutes of my return. He set about explaining the two documents in our possession, so I called Mr. Larsh in in order that he might ask the questions we had discussed in your office. 2. The green-backed book is a printed record of the documents re-ceived by the Japanese Foreign Office between September 1930 and the end of / the calendar / year 1936. It incorporates all annual or monthly accession lists issued during the period and is thus cumulative for that period. Documents accessioned earlier are not included here. There was no later issue of the "green-backs." Certain additions were made in ink at appropriate places in this issue and - according to Mr. Hayashi - these additions were supposed to include everything up to 24 May 1945, the day before the big Tokyo air-raid. This seems somewhat short of the truth to me, for there were far fewer entries during, the 8 1/2 years in ink than during the 6 1/3 years in printed form. Yet these years covered the outbreak of the war with China, trouble with Britain (Tientsin), two major border in¬cidents with the Soviet Union, the outbreak of the European War and the Pacific War and all that preceded it in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. A new "green-back" was proposed to cover the whole period from 1930 j to some later date to be determined subsequently. This was never compiled, (In a written memo given me in Japanese by Mr. Hayashi, it is stated: "I could not ascertain whether or not all the records subsequent to 1936 have been included." 3. At numerous points in the green volume there is a pencil check mark and a red-seal character [Japanese character inserted](disaster) which was used to cover destruction by air raid. Mr. Hayashi admits that this character is misleading. It means only that the document in question was missing at the time of check-back. It is presumed to have been burnt in the conflagration started by incendiaries of enemy origin. Actually it might have been destroyed or con-cealed by the Japanese themselves. Hayashi admits that the character [Japanese character inserted] (lost) would have been more accurate. 4. At other points in the Index to Classified Records (green back) there is a different red seal meaning requisitioned. This refers to documents turned over to the Washington Document Center.