Japan decided to built pocket battleships according to the Australian newspaper Newcastle Morning Herald and Miner’s Advocate dated Tuesday 5 April 1938

An item dated London, England 4 April referred to the Tokyo correspondent of the The Times reorting that while the United Kingdom, France and the USA decided to invoke the escalotor clause of the London Naval Treaty in building 42,500 tons battleships Japan decided to built pocket battleships as was said in an article in the Asahi Shimburn. Such type would render all 10,000 ton cruisers built since 1922 obsolete. The Japanese newspaper claimed that at the moment no ships larger than 35,000 tons were under construction in Japam.

Source

Trove.nla.gov.au