On 3 January 1942 Ambassador Oshima paid his second house call on the German dictator in fewer than three weeks. Hitler’s fondness for the Japanese envoy notwithstanding, such a minimal gap between two visits was unheard of and could only be justified by the need to brief the new Far Eastern ally on some unforeseen event. As was to be expected, much of the time the two men spent in conference was an attempt by the dictator to cover up the near-collapse of the German frontline outside Moscow. Hitler may have held the Japanese diplomat in high regard, but he still resorted to bare-faced lying to counter any rumours about the Ostheer’s crisis that may have reached the Japanese embassy.