History People, i have a question.
didn’t the Japanese have a diplomat here on a mission during the attack at Pearl Harbor?
Yes.
Yes...and not only that, but the Japanese mission was supposed to present a letter explaining Pearl Harbor BEFORE it happened. However, the guy typing and translating it was very slow, so they ended up arriving at Sec. of War Stimson’s office AFTER the attack.
I believe we had diplomatic relations with Japan at the time of the attack. There were ongoing negotiations.
Yes, the infamous mission of Nomura and Kurusu. The negotiations dragged on going nowhere while the Japanese planned and trained for the attack.
They were to deliver a final message implying they were going to war but not actually declaring war just before the attack at Pearl, but no one at the embassy was cleared to decode and type it, so they did it themselves, delivering the message after the attack began. We had actually decoded the message earlier and Marshall directed a warning be cabled Short in Hawaii, but that was bungled too. If you're curious about the whole sad tale, I would recommend At Dawn We Slept, or there's a pretty good Readers Digest version in the movie Tora Tora Tora.