The first Konoe Statement was released on January 16, 1938.
The Sino-Japanese War began in July 1937, and even though Japanese forces occupied Nanking, the capital of the Nationalist Government of China, on December 13, they failed to subdue the Nationalist Government led by Chiang Kai-Shek. In addition, the peace overtures made by German ambassador Oskar Trautmann to the Republic of China, which had continued behind closed doors since October 1937, ended in failure. With no prospect for peace, the Japanese government released a statement on January 16, 1938 declaring that it would “no longer speak with the Nationalist Government of China” and expressed its intent to abandon attempts to negotiate a solution. |
- Document 1 is the first issue of Shashin Shuho, published on February 16, 1938. This issue features a manga about the first Konoe Statement (see the fifth image).
- Document 2 is the first Konoe Statement in its entirety.
- Document 3 contains the opinion submitted by Iwane Matsui, the commanding officer of the Central China Area Army, to Minister of War Sugiyama on January 10, 1938, six days before the release of the first Konoe Statement. In this written opinion entitled “View that the Empire of Japan should take on the Chiang Administration,” which was drawn up by the Central China Area Army Headquarters on January 7, 1938, Matsui presented the “decision” that the Empire of Japan should immediately claim that it did not recognize the Chiang Administration as the legitimate central government of China, focusing on the problems involved in “hoping to negotiate a peace with the Chiang Administration” (see the second image) and “holding discussions about peace negotiations with the Chiang Administration” (see the third image).
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