"Emden" embarked on her next overseas cruise on 1 December. The ship initially cruised to Vigo, Spain before entering the Mediterranean. She stopped in Souda Bay, Crete and then transited the Suez Canal, stopping in Aden, Cochin, Colombo, Trincomalee, Port Blair as she crossed the Indian Ocean to Sabang in the Dutch East Indies. "Emden" then visited numerous ports in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the Pacific, including Bangkok, Victoria, Labuan, Manila, Nanking, Shanghai, Nagasaki, Osaka, Nii-jima, Tsuruga, Hakodate, Otaru, Yokohama, and Guam. "Emden" then crossed back through the Indian Ocean, stopping in Mauritius before arriving in South Africa; there, she stopped in Durban and East London, where a group of the ship's officers went to Johannesburg; there, they were received by J. B. M. Hertzog, the Prime Minister of South Africa. On the way back to Germany, the ship stopped in Lobito and Luanda in Portuguese Angola, Las Palmas, and Santander, Spain. She reached Wilhelmshaven on 8 December 1931.