ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the period between around November 1940 when the informal talks between the US and Japan began, and the middle of October 1941 when Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe eventually decided to resign. On 16 April 1941, when Ambassador Nomura and Secretary of State Hull met to discuss the Draft Understanding Proposal, Hull handed and explained to Nomura his statement on 'the four principles'. The Draft Understanding Proposal was understood and accepted by Tokyo as an official American proposal although, as far as the Americans were concerned, it was not an officially approved document. Problems with Nomura's mistranslations were found by the Japanese authorities after Foreign Minister Matsuoka requested Nomura to send the Draft Understanding Proposal in the original English. The Liaison Council eventually endorsed Foreign Minister Matsuoka's revised Draft Understanding Proposal on 3 May. On 21 June Secretary of State Hull handed Ambassador Nomura the revisions to the draft of 31 May, together with the oral statement.
