The following is a translation of a Top Secret encrypted telegram dated 25 November 1941 from unidentified Soviet agents in Tokyo regarding the potential for Japan being “forced to” seize the Dutch East Indies in the event of failure of Japanese-American negotiations. Note that, while the telegram was transmitted on 25 November, it wasn’t received until the 28th and deciphered on the 29th. Reactions in the translation are as encountered in the original.
TOP SECRET
CIPHER TELEGRAM No. 8412
Received 28 November 1941 at 21:40 Deciphered 29 November 1941 at 03:35
To Viktor.
I am transmitting telegram No. 147 from ██████████████. █████████ ████████████████████████████████████████████████████. The Japanese embassy was surprised by the information in a TASS telegram regarding the conflict at the Soviet-Korean border. They feel that the publication of this information is advantageous to the Germans.
The chief of the embassy’s political department OONOUKI [sic] stated, “Peace n the Pacific and a rapprochement with China and the USSR is the policy of the new Japanese government. At the same time, America and England, as well as the Germans, are striving to draw Japan into war with the USSR. Of course Japan needs oil, and if the negotiations with America provide nothing, Japan will be forced to occupy the Dutch Indies. This is the opinion of Japan’s state figures.”
The head of the Russian department IKEMI [sic] says “We have fuel for one year at most. The desire of the military to seize the Soviet Far East is a pipe dream. The war with China needs to be finished and the rumors about concentrations of Japanese troops toward Burma Road and Yunnan province have some basis. We may meet American and British resistance, but there is no alternative. Resolving the Chinese war through official means does not work. Anglo-American circles have been attempting to push Japan into the Soviet island of Sakhalin, but Sakhalin’s petroleum will not satisfy Japan’s demands.”
On arriving in Shanghai, the interpreter for the main gendarme directorate MITSUYE [sic] says, “The British and Americans are intentionally spreading rumors on an impending war between Japan and the USSR. The Japanese know only too well how difficult it is to fight in Siberia in the winter. Moreover, Siberia will not provide Japan with gasoline, rubber, or iron. Japanese troops are concentrating in North China and Mongolia will be used for an offensive in West China, and afterward, on the Sichuan province.”
25 November 1941
Translation © 2025 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
Translating History 