of the three democracies. OSFIMA and SHIEATOEI have indicated to Tokyo that this wish of the Japanese Government was also impossible and have informed CIANO, and myself again purely confidentially regarding the. proceedings. CIANO as well as I left no doubt that the conclusion of an agreement with this interpretation, which is in direct contradiction to the text of the | agreement, is quite out of question for us. jL^rth^r I^fcft'Ee^^Q^rfler tot hasten a^f inalclarif1cat£on, info rned QSEJL1A and; SHIRATORI jfffoo was in Berlin on the occasion of the I^ehrer*s. birthday, that I must, before the Fuehrer's speech on 2o April 5 know the final positive or negative decision of the Japanese cabinet. Both Ambassadors have wired this to Tokyo. "The above information is meant exclusively for your personal information. I ask you to keep it strictly secret, and for your part not to allude to this topic in your conversations there until later and, in case you are spoken to by another party about it, not to give any recognition whatsoever of the fact of having been informed of the fact. That applies also to the Italian Ambassador there, who according to information given by CIANO has not been informed up to now. On the other hand I ask you to observe carefully developments there and to keep me continuously informed upon the matter by wire. RIBBENTROP"