Memos and Correspondence by George Atcheson, Jr., a political advisor to SCAP, on Prince Konoye

1-19 Memos and Correspondence by George Atcheson, Jr., a political advisor to SCAP, on Prince Konoye

These are reports made by George Atcheson, Jr. to the Department of State regarding Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who was involved with the revision of the Constitution. Atcheson had been dispatched by the Department of State to work as a political advisor to the Supreme Commander. On October 4, 1945, when MacArthur met with Konoye, Atcheson sent inquiries regarding the U.S. government's policy on revision of the Constitution to the Department of State. On the 8th of the month Konoye had arranged a meeting where he met with Atcheson to seek suggestions and advice. With the understanding that his "comments were personal and unofficial," Atcheson pointed out such problems with the Meiji Constitution as the weak authority of the Diet and the lack of guarantees for fundamental human rights. In response to the report about this meeting sent by Atcheson, the State Department, in a telegram dated October 17, concurred in general with the views that Atcheson summarized, and expressed its opinion regarding these points. Then it stated that a full report of the official policy of the U.S. government would be sent in the near future. In a memorandum dated October 23, Atcheson said that Prince Konoye had intended to request that MacArthur invite "an eminent American constitutional lawyer" to advise in the drafting of the revised the Japanese Constitution. Even at this point, when the Shidehara Cabinet announced that it would start investigating the constitutional problem, Atcheson continued to advocate Prince Konoye's work on constitutional revision.

However, as Konoye's efforts to revise the Constitution were meeting with severe criticism in Japan and abroad, on November 1, GHQ announced, "Konoye had not been designated to work on the revision of the Constitution." In a letter to President Truman dated November 5, Atcheson tried to blame Konoye's interpreter for Konoye's work on constitutional revision. Atcheson explained that during the October 4 meeting between MacArthur and Konoye, when MacArthur mentioned that the "administrative machinery" of the government should be reformed, Konoye's interpreter mistranslated it to state: "the Constitution should be revised."

Around this time, MacArthur started to exclude Atcheson, who had direct contact with the U.S. government, from the constitutional revision problem. In a letter dated November 7, Atcheson reported to the Under Secretary of State that MacArthur was obviously hoping if possible to keep the Department of State out of this matter. Atcheson went to the trouble of sending this letter by airmail in order to avoid the possibility of a cable being read by GHQ. From this point on, MacArthur moved to have all the constitutional problems handled within GHQ.

Actual Title of Source	Incoming Telegram from Atcheson to Secretary of State dated October, 1945
Date	October 4, 1945
Document Number	State Department Records Decimal File, 1945-1949 "740.0019 CONTROL (JAPAN)/10-445"<Sheet No. SDDF(A)00446>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG59)
Note	Microfiche

Actual Title of Source	George Atcheson, Jr. to the Secretary of State, Subject: Revision of Japanese Constitution; Discussion with Prince Konoye
Date	October 10, 1945
Document Number	Records of Japan, Tokyo Embassy, Records of Japan, Tokyo Consulate General and Records of Office of the U. S. Political Advisor for Japan, Tokyo - Office of the U.S. Political Advisor for Japan, Tokyo, Classified General Correspondence, 1945-52 - Box No. 3 "1945 Volume VI:800-873" <Sheet No. FSP03457>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG84)
Note	Microfiche

Actual Title of Source	Telegram Received From: Secretary of State dated October 17, 1945.
Date	October 17, 1945
Document Number	Records of Japan, Tokyo Embassy, Records of Japan, Tokyo Consulate General and Records of Office of the U. S. Political Advisor for Japan, Tokyo - Office of the U.S. Political Advisor for Japan, Tokyo, Classified General Correspondence, 1945-52 -Box No. 3 "1945 Volume VI: 800-873"<Sheet No. FSP03457>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG84)
Note	Microfiche

Actual Title of Source	Memorandum for: Supreme Commander and the Chief of Staff. Subject: Revision of the Constitution; Suggested Employment of an American Constitutional Expert.
Date	October 23, 1945
Document Number	GHQ/SCAP Records, Adjutant General's Section Box No. 785-5 "091.1: #1"<Sheet No. AG(D)03324-03327>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG331)
Note	Microfiche

Actual Title of Source	Letter from George Atcheson, Jr. to the President dated November 5, 1945.
Date	November 5, 1945
Document Number	State Department Records Decimal File, 1945-1949 "740.00119 CONTROL (JAPAN)/11-2545" <Sheet No. SDDF(A)00456>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG59)
Note	Microfiche

Actual Title of Source	Letter from George Atcheson, Jr. to Dean Acheson, Under Secretary of State dated November 7, 1945.
Date	November 7, 1945
Document Number	State Department Records Decimal File, 1945-1949 "894.011/11-745" <Sheet No. SDDF(B)00074>
Repository (reproduction)	National Diet Library
Repository	U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (RG59)
Note	Microfiche

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