Tokyo, Apr. 17.
Attention is focussed here on the arrival of the U.S.S. Astoria at 8.30 am. today, bearing the remains of Mr. Hiroshi Saito, the former Japanese Ambassador to the United States; Mr. Saito's funeral; and President Roosevelt's spectacular message to the dictators.
The orders given by Mr. Claude Swanson, the American Secretary for the Navy, for 64 warships to return to the Pacific forthwith has caused considerable surprise in Navy circles here occasioned by the fact that, in the opinion of Japanese naval circles, Japanese-American relations have recently taken a turn for the better.
It is also considered that the full strength of the United States fleet is required in the Altantic, in view of the tense European situation. The Japanese Press has hitherto offered no comment on America's latest move.. The Ministry of the Navy declines to comment for the present.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.