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Imposter Revealed: The Japanese Perception of Yardley

While Japan was angry at the United States over the events happening at the Washington Armament Conference, they were mostly angry over the impact it had on their deal. Their belief was that they could have gotten the deal from their first proposal if the United States had not acted in a dishonest manner. While Japan was angry at the United States over the events happening at the Washington Armament Conference, they were mostly angry over the impact it had on their deal. Their belief was that if the United States had acted in an  honest fashion, they would have gotten the deal from their first proposal.

Furthermore, they were angry at their Ambassador, Admiral Viscount Tomasaburo Kato, whom in their opinion, should have been more careful in his telegrams and the amount of communications he had with his allies back home. Following the reveals of Yardley’s novel, the Viscount was soon released from duty,  a new Japanese code was created, and it was dictated that the amount of correspondence with missionaries above would be restricted.

Admiral Viscount Tomosaburo Kato​​​

The arrival of Herbert O. Yardley's novel in Japan caused a lot of commotion. While its people were angry at their government, thinking them foolish  during the Armament Conference, Japanese newspapers relished the insurgence and made this news their headline for weeks.  

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