ABSTRACT
Kimmel had demanded to be “immediately informed of all important developments as they occur and by the quickest secure means available.” Washington assured him and his intelligence officer, Edwin Layton, that they would be.1 In late September, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to its Honolulu consul-general, Nagao Kita, the first of several so-called “bomb plot” messages:
Henceforth we would like to have you make reports concerning vessels along the following lines insofar as possible: 1. The waters of Pearl harbor are to be divided into five subareas
. . . . Area A. Waters between Ford Island and the Arsenal. Area B. Waters adjacent to the Island south and west of Ford Island. . . . Area C. East Loch. Area D. Middle Loch. Area E. West Loch and the communicating water routes.
