Data commentary
July 2, 1941
The 5th Imperial Conference (Agenda: Imperial National Policy, Southeast Asia Policy, and British / US Policy)


“The fourth Imperial Conference, Agenda: Guidelines for the implementation of Imperial National Policy including the Change of Circumstances” (Page 1)
(Offered by the National Institute for Defense Studies, Defense Agency)
From 10:00 to 12:00, on Wednesday, July 2, 1941, The 5th Imperial Conference is held. The Southeast Asia policy that was decided on at the Imperial General Headquarters and Government Liaison Conference on June 25 and 28 was reconsidered and details regarding the stationing of troops in Southern French Indochina were determined.
Document 1: The fifth Imperial Conference, Agenda; “Outline of the Imperial National Policy including the Change of Circumstances” (“the Imperial General Headquarters and Government Liaison Conference – Volume 1 of 4” (the Sugiyama Memo) (Images 154 to 163)
Iconic document PDF
Document 2: Outline of the Imperial National Policy including the Change of Circumstances Determined at Imperial Conference on July 2, 1941. (“File on Decisions of Important National Policy, Vol. 1”, Image 24 on the left to image 25 on the right)
Iconic document PDF
An Imperial Conference was held on July 2, 1941. As the formulation of the “Southern Policy Advancement Matter” at the 32nd Informal Contact Meeting (June 25) had preceded the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union, on June 28 the 35th Liaison Meeting between the Imperial General Headquarters and Government convened and based on the current circumstances formulated the “Outline of the Imperial National Policy Including the Change of Circumstances”. At the Imperial Conference the draft version of the Outline was adopted and was made an official part of national policy.
Document 1 is the minutes of the conference. According to these minutes questions were raised by Chairman of the Privy Council, Yoshimichi Hara, in relation to the details of the “Outline” and its implementation. There was a response by Foreign Minister Matsuoka, Minister of War Tojo, and Chief of the General Staff Sugiyama - all of whom were present at the 35th Liaison Meeting of the Imperial General Headquarters and Government when the original policy was decided. In the middle of this exchange various opinions were heard on the relative merits of stationing troops in Southern Indochina, the German-Soviet conflict, and the arguments for and against war with the Soviet Union. These issue were discussed in light of their impact on the positions of Great Britain and particular the United States.
Document 2 is the text of the “Outline of the Imperial National Policy Including the Change of Circumstances”. The “Outline” provides for the “establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and world peace, no matter what international developments take place”, and “working vigorously towards dealing with the China Incident” and “seeking to establish a solid basis for the security and preservation of the nation by advancing into the Southern Regions”.
Furthermore, the Imperial Conference, according to the documents you can see here in the “Daihonei Seifu Renraku Kaigi; the Imperial General Headquarters and Government Liaison Conference - Volume 1 of 4” (originally the Sugiyama Memo), was recorded as the 4th such occasion however, based on the published Sugiyama Memo it is actually the 5th such meeting and when referring to the materials relating to the preceding and later Imperial Conferences it is considered more appropriate to refer to the current conference as the 5th conference, and in relation to this special exhibition it will be treated as the “5th Imperial Conference”.
CLOSE