FOREIGN OFFICE FILES FOR JAPAN AND THE FAR EAST
Series One: Embassy & Consular Archives - Japan (1905-1940)
(Public Record Office Class FO 262)

Part 6: Detailed Correspondence for 1934-1940 (PRO Class FO 262/1861-1988, 2004-2032 & 2036-2039)

Part 6 concentrates on the period 1934-1940. There is an emphasis on Japanese economic and military expansion, their withdrawal from the League of Nations, the North China Incident, the European Crisis and British misgivings about an
"Open Door" policy in the Far East. There are particularly strong files on:

• The Japanese Army.
• Japanese activities in Manchuria.
• The League of Nations.
• Naval Disarmament.
• British and American policies towards the Far East.
• Political events in Japan, Formosa and China.
• The North China Incident.
• Discussions of Far Eastern Problems.
• Communism.
• Political and Economic Relations between Japan and Germany.
• Japanese activities in the Netherlands East Indies.
• Political relations between Japan and China.

These FO 262 files for the years 1934-1940 leave little room for doubt about the main concerns at that time: the likely repercussions of Japan’s aggressive foreign policy, particularly in relation to China, Manchuria and the threat to British, American and Dutch interests in the Far East.