Q. At this time in what capacity was Ribbentrop in the German Government – the Foreign Minister or an official in the office of the Foreign Minister? A. He was Foreign Minister at the time and had been for several months. I told Ribbentrop that I thought it would be extremely difficult for Japan to agree to expand her objectives to a place where she would agree to a mutual aid pact aimed at the world in general, as she was only prepared to act against Russia. Ribbentrop in return stated that he did not with Japan to do anything that was outside her power to do, but that a strong pact was vitally necessary for the preservation of peace and hence urged me further upon this point. Ribbentrop then asked me to find out how the Japanese army would feel about such a treaty, and secondly, requested me to maintain absolute security – in this regard there had been some leaks in the previous negotiations leading up to the Anti-Comintern Pact – and to not communicate by wire or wireless with Japan, but to send someone back. Because of this I communicated with the General Staff, simply to get its O.K., and having received it sometime around the end of July, I dispatched Major General KASAHARA to Japan by air. This was not all decided at one meeting. It actually was during two or three meetings. (Interrogation of OSHIMA, Hiroshi, 4 Feb 1946, pp. 43, 44, and 45.)