<P> After the signing of the Tripartite Pact, mutual visits of political and military nature increased . After German ace and parachute expert Ernst Udet visited Japan in 1939 to inspect the Japanese aerial forces, reporting to Hermann Göring that "Japanese flyers, though brave and willing, are no sky - beaters", General Tomoyuki Yamashita was given the job of reorganizing the Japanese Air Arm in late 1940 . For this purpose, Yamashita arrived in Berlin in January 1941, staying almost six months . He inspected the broken Maginot Line and German fortifications on the French coast, watched German flyers in training, and even flew in a raid over Britain after decorating Hermann Göring, head of the German Luftwaffe, with the Japanese "Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun". General Yamashita also met and talked with Hitler, on whom he commented, </P> <P> I felt, that in the mind of Hitler there was much of spiritual matters, transcending material plans . When I met the Führer he said that since boyhood he had been attracted by Japan . He read carefully reports of Japan's victory over Russia when he was only 17 years old and was impressed by Japan's astonishing strength . </P> <P> According to Yamashita, Hitler promised to remember Japan in his will, by instructing the Germans "to bind themselves eternally to the Japanese spirit ." In fact, General Yamashita was so excited that he said: "In a short time, something great will happen . You just watch and wait ." Returning home, the Japanese delegation was accompanied by more than 250 German technicians, engineers and instructors . Soon, Japan's Air Force was among the most powerful in the world . </P> <P> On 11 November 1940, German--Japanese relations, as well as Japan's plans to expand southwards into South - East Asia, were decisively bolstered when the crew of the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis boarded the British cargo ship SS Automedon . Fifteen bags of Top Secret mail for the British Far East Command were found, including naval intelligence reports containing the latest assessment of the Japanese Empire's military strength in the Far East, along with details of Royal Air Force units, naval strength, and notes on Singapore's defences . It painted a gloomy picture of British land and naval capabilities in the Far East, and declared that Britain was too weak to risk war with Japan . The mail reached the German embassy in Tokyo on 5 December, and was then hand - carried to Berlin via the Trans - Siberian railway . On the initiative of the German naval attaché Paul Wenneker, a copy was given to the Japanese; it provided valuable intelligence prior to their commencing hostilities against the Western Powers . The captain of the Atlantis, Bernhard Rogge, was rewarded for this with an ornate katana Samurai sword; the only other Germans honored in this manner were Hermann Göring and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel . </P>

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