COPY OF AIDE-MEMOIRE PREPARED BY THE EMBASSY OF sah TO THE UNITED STATES APRIL 12, 1954 It is reported that on March 31, Mr. Lewis L. Strauss, Chai rman of the Atomic Energy Commission, made the following statements, among thers, concerning the thermonuclear test which took place at the Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954. ", . . A Japanese fishing trawler, the ‘Fortunate Drag ' appears to have been missed by the search but, based ora Statement attributed to her skipper, to the effect tha he saw the flash of the explosion and heard the concus sion six minutes later, danger area. it must have been well within r e ... . » The situation with respect to the 23 Japanese fishermen is less certain due to the fact that our peo have not yet been permitted by the Japanese authorities to make a proper clinical examination. It is interestifg to note, however, that the reports which have recently come through to us indicate that the blood count of the men is comparable to that of our weather station personnel. ...' The portion of Mr. Strauss" statement quoted above not bein entirely consistent with information officially received here, the Japan Se Embassy wishes to place it on record that facts ascertained by the Japa ese authorities on these points are as follows: l. Upon investigation, it has been established that th crew of the Fukuryu Maru No. 5 heard the detonation of the explosion seven or eight minutes after the crew saw its flash. It is estimated that the position of the vessel when they saw the flash and the spot where the ash fell upon them were respectively 19 miles and 26 miles outside the danger-zone which the United States Government had previously established and publicized by the official publication ‘Notice to Mariners’. For the details as to the movement of the vessel reference is made to the . « « Aide-Memoire handed in Tokyo to Ambassador Allison by Vice Minister Okumura of Foreign Affairs on March 27, 1954. Dr. John J. Morton, of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission examined the Japanese crew members on the 19th of March in Tokyo and on the 20th at Yaizu. Dr Merrill Eisenbud of the Atomic Energy Commission viewed the affected persons, accompanied by Dr. 469 Gl