Memorandum by Frederick H. Boland on the Japanese Consul-General in Dublin

The Japanese Consul-General called to see me yesterday and told me that, accompanied by his Consul,¹ he had called the previous evening at the American Consulate General in accordance with the instructions which he had received from Tokio. He had been received by Mr. McEnelly² and Mr. Gerrity.³ Both were very courteous but Mr. McEnelly explained that he couldn't say or do anything until he had had an opportunity of consulting Mr. Gray and Sir John Maffey. He would do this and let Mr. Beppu know. Mr. Beppu hadn't heard from him up to the time of his visit to me. Mr. Beppu said he had made it plain to Mr. McEnelly that he was handing over to the Allied Powers not the Consulate General itself but only the property and archives of the Consulate General. Mr. Beppu agreed that the distinction was a subtle one but he thought it was important. At this point he handed me his Note D/303 of the 4th December. Mr. Beppu said that the work of the Consulate General would be done not by the Allied Powers but by whatever neutral power was eventually entrusted with the protection of Japanese interests in Ireland. There were some pending questions between Ireland and Japan, particularly the question of the four Irish priests killed at Manila.⁴ He would look into these when he got to Tokio and would let us have replies through whatever third party was chosen.

I told Mr. Beppu that we would make a note of what he had said. We appreciated his action in keeping us informed, but, as I had already told him, we did not wish to come directly into the dealings between himself and the Allied Representatives here. As regards the nomination of a third power, I imagined that the question of the conduct of Japanese foreign relations, once all her missions abroad were withdrawn, was one for settlement between the Japanese Government and the Allied Supreme Command. It was not a matter in connection with which we would feel qualified to take any initiative. Mr. Beppu quite agreed.