On 30 November 1908, in Washington, the Japanese Ambassador, Kogoro Takahira, addressed to Secretary of State Elihu Root a note setting out the two Governments’ understanding of their policy in the region of the Pacific Ocean. The same day Root confirmed the text, point by point. An exchange of notes, not a treaty submitted to the Senate. It is not the 1905 Taft–Katsura memorandum.

Takahira: Japan and the United States hold important outlying insular possessions in the Pacific; the exchange of views had shown a common aim, policy and intention. A frank avowal would strengthen friendship and contribute to the preservation of the general peace. The Imperial Government had authorised him to present an outline of that common understanding.

Point 1: it is the wish of the two Governments to encourage the free and peaceful development of their commerce on the Pacific Ocean. Point 2: the policy of both Governments, uninfluenced by any aggressive tendencies, is directed to the maintenance of the existing status quo in the region above mentioned and to the defense of the principle of equal opportunity for commerce and industry in China. Point 3: they are firmly resolved reciprocally to respect the territorial possessions belonging to each other in said region.

Point 4: they are determined to preserve the common interests of all powers in China by supporting by all pacific means at their disposal the independence and integrity of China and the principle of equal opportunity for commerce and industry of all nations in that Empire. Point 5: should any event occur threatening the status quo as above described or the principle of equal opportunity as above defined, it remains for the two Governments to communicate with each other in order to arrive at an understanding as to what measures they may consider it useful to take.

Root confirms the same five points, as a concise mutual affirmation of the accordant policy respecting the Far East which the two Governments had so frequently declared. The notes do not name Hawaii, the Philippines, Korea or Manchuria and do not regulate immigration; those are not clauses of the text. The instrument takes effect with the exchange of notes that day.

State, War and Navy Building, Washington. The State Department of the period, not a signing hall. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

For context: Root–Takahira Agreement. The text: FRUS 1908, The Japanese Ambassador to the Secretary of State.