Dec. 23, 1929 – A rare photo of J. Edgar Hoover as he oversees the protection detail for the visiting Japanese Naval Delegation in Washington, D.C. The Japanese delegation were were on their way to attend negotiations in Europe for the ratification of the 1930 London Naval Treaty (officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament). The delegation was greeted at the Washington Union (Train) Station by U.S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson and the Japanese Ambassador Katsuji Debuchi; the delegation then visited the White House to meet with President Herbert Hoover.

December 23, 1929 – This photo offers rare candid view of J. Edgar Hoover, who is wearing the straw hat in the background and standing near a policeman. This photo is a sectional view of the larger group photo. This sectional view allowed the enlargement necessary to clearly view J. Edgar Hoover. This photo presents a unique glimpse of Hoover during a Bureau of Investigation (prior name of the FBI) field operation, when he wasn’t posing for the camera.

This photo highlights the arriving Japanese Naval Delegation in Washington, D.C., prior to the delegation being received by President Herbert Hoover at the White House. We see U. S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson (1867 – 1950) at the far right, with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Katsuji Debuchi  at the far left. They are greeting the arriving Japanese Naval Delegation at the Washington Union (Train) Station. The delegation was passing thru the U.S. on their way to Europe for the negotiations that would ratify the 1930 London Naval Arms (limitation) Conference. The 1930 The London Naval Treaty (officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament) was an agreement between Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address a loophole in the formidable 1922 Washington Naval Treaty (that created tonnage limits for each nation’s surface warships), it regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on 27 October 1930, and the treaty went into effect on the same day.

One of the significant benefits of this treaty, beyond attempting to maintain peace, was that the Great Depression had just begun in late 1929, and the treaty encouraged less funds be spent in an international Arms Race, when that money could better be used for urgently needed social support programs during the economic downturn.

Above is the larger version of the December 23, 1929 photo as the Japanese Naval Delegation arrive in Washington, D.C., on their way to the 1930 London Naval Conference.

Front row, Left to right: Admiral Seizō Sakonji; Japanese Ambassador Katsuji Debuchi; , T. Kawasaki, Reijiro Wakatsuki chief of delegates; U.S. Secretary of State Stimson: Hirosi Saito, Madame Takarabe, and Madame Debuchi. Back row right side: Takeshi Takarabe, assistant chief delegate (wearing glasses and standing behind his wife).

The individual in the background wearing a straw hat, adjacent to the policeman is J. Edgar Hoover (see below photo enlargements):

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States and an American law enforcement administrator. He was first appointed as the director of the Bureau of Investigation – the FBI’s predecessor – in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director for another 37 years until his death in 1972 at the age of 77.

The Dec. 23, 1929 group photo was taken in front of the south main entrance to the Washington Union Station. Below is a circa 1929 postcard of the train station. The descriptive reverse side of the postcard is also displayed below:

It was a surprising discovery noticing that J. Edgar Hoover appeared in the Dec. 23^rd, 1929 photo. The photo was acquired while doing research for the historical novel The Emperor and the Spy: The Secret Alliance to Prevent WWII, and the illustrated biography The Art of Peace by Stan S. Katz.

The Emperor and the Spy focuses on the life of a high level U.S. intelligence agent Colonel Sidney Mashbir who befriended and allied with Japanese leaders, including members of the Japanese royal family during the 1920s and 1930s, in a valiant attempt to maintain goodwill between their nations.

The Art of Peace biography is in many ways a nonfictional sequel to the novel and highlights the pivotal behind the scenes events in U.S. Japan relations during the first half of the twentieth century. The book highlights one of Colonel Mashbir’s closest and most influential Japanese allies Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (1863-1940).

For further information visit the website TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com

Link to the Introduction of THE ART OF PEACE

Link to Introduction for THE EMPEROR AND THE SPY