"ENTIRELY A MATTER OF U.S. DOMESTIC POLICY"

JAPAN NOT ALARMED BY BUILD UP OF FORTIFICATIONS OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Tokio, Japan (JFK+50) On May 19, 1925, Associated Press reports that "a spokesman for the Japanese government today" said that Japan is "not alarmed by reported plans for further fortification of the Hawaiian Islands" by the United States*.

The spokesman added that the strengthening of American defenses in Hawaii "is entirely a matter of United States domestic policy."

At the present time, the Japanese believe "a strong naval base in the Hawaiian Islands" is "not...damaging to Japan."

JFK+50 NOTE

The spelling of Tokio (Japan) was changed in the 1920s & 1930s (obviously sometime after May 19, 1925) to Tokyo.  The official change was desired by the Japanese government which sought to standardize the name of the city. 

*By December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Empire saw Hawaii, particularly Pearl Harbor, the main U.S. base for its Pacific Fleet, as a major barrier to its plans for expansion in the Pacific.

SOURCE

"Tokio Unalarmed By Oahu Defenses," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 19, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

John White

Honolulu, Oahu

Hawaii

1981

Photo by Beverly White

"IN PROTEST OF AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWS"

JAPANESE MEN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR CUTTING DOWN AMERICAN FLAG

Tokyo, Japan (JFK+50) On November 6, 1924, The Evening Star reports Riehi Okada, who cut the American flag from the flagstaff in the grounds of the destroyed American embassy on July 1...was yesterday sentenced to six months imprisonment."

Two of Okada's accomplices were also given prison sentences.

The unlawful flag cutting was done during demonstrations held in Japan in June and July protesting American immigration laws "excluding Oriental immigrants from the United States."

SOURCE

"Cutting U.S. Flag Nets Japanese Six Months," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 6, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

U.S. Embassy

Chancery Office Building

1969

www.picryl.com/