"'Next I wish to reply to Councillor HARA's question* As you have stated, it was the plan not to announce the Japan-Germany Pact until the signing of the Russo-Japanese Fishery Treaty was completed* However, even before the signing of the treaty, a rumor about the completion of the Japan-Germany agree¬ment spread from some place* Moreover, a rumor of a coalition among Japan, Germany and Italy appeared in the newspapers and even in Japan some people believe that a Japan-Germany Agreement has been concluded* As the situation was such that we did not know when matters pertaining to the agreement would appear on the news¬papers we had to prohibit the printing of any newspaper articles dealing with the topic* 1,1 In spite of this it appears that through the homes of foreign correspondents the rumor of the Japan- Germany Pact was reported from Japan to the United States and that from there the rumor has spread to Europe* It is most regrettable that the secret leaked out in that manner* As a result of these rumors, when the Soviet ambassador called at the Foreign Ministry on the sixteenth, he asked me whether the rumor about the conclusion of some sort of treaty between Japan and Germany was true or not* I did not deny the rumor entirely but explained Japan1 s policy of defense against Communism* I further stated the aim of the decision made at the Seventh General Meeting of the Comintern and said that in order to defend against