●1924- First initiative to establish the Japan P.E.N from London
Previously it was thought that there had been no movement toward the establishment of a Japan P.E.N. Club prior to about 1935, with willing Japanese people participating locally only.
Now, shortly after its founding, International PEN suggested the establishment of a Japan P.E.N. Club to the Japanese ambassador to Britain at the time,
The letter the ambassador Gonsuke Hayashi wrote was in response to that suggestion saying that he was consulting with Japan on the matter.
This confirmed for the first time that International PEN made efforts to establish a Japan P.E.N. Club shortly after International PEN was founded in 1921.
The letter of Japanese Embassy to International PEN Secretary in 1924
(From the archives of the records of the International PEN headquarters from the pre-war and post-war period in the University of Texas at Austin in the United States)