Press translations [Japan]. Economic Series 0104, 1945-12-26.

Full Translation:

The Board of War Damage Reconstruction (SENSAI - Fukoin) held a meeting on 22 December to study the issuance of deeds and titles. The Government intends to issue titles and deeds in an attempt to purchase the land required for city planning.

The key points of the bill which has been drafted are as follows: (1) The titles and deeds will he issued for each of the specified areas, and will be filled in with the name of proprietor, acreage, and price. (2) The Government will exact annual interest for the price indicated in the title and deed. (3) Any proprietor with a title and deed can sell his land at an indicated price to those banks designated by the Government. (4) Any proprietor with a title and deed can raise a loan of money on the title and [illegible]security from banks on credit associations. (5) The title and deed is transferable. (6) In case the land was already given in security, the title and deed may be handed over to a creditor. (7) A real right on the land will be purchased by a public agency. (8) In casa such rights as peapatual lease, surface rights and right to sell and tenant-rights were set a on the land, quasi-title-deeds will be issued. Quasi-title-deeds shell be handled the same was as the "title-deeds". (9) In case any surplus area results from the enforcement of city planning, the land in question will be sold preferably to those proprietors of the "title-dead" involved by means of competitive bidding. (10) A Central Committee for the Assessment of the Value of Land (CHIKA-SATEI-CRUO-IINKAI) will be formed as a central organization and its Committee will be set up in each city-planning district. (11) Those proprietors of the "title-deeds", who have not purchased the land disposed by the Government, can receive the sum indicated in the "title-deed" within the period from the fifth year to the fifteenth.

Full Translation:

(Despatched at MITO)

Japanese paper produced in the KUJI area, of IBAEAGI-Ken has bean praised, by Allied Occupation Troops for its superior quality. As one of the articles to be exported in exchange for food and other necessary materials, a great increase in its production is to be projected. The plants from which Japanese paper is made, are

ECONOMIC SERIES 104 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

the edgeworthia drysantha (MITSUMATA) and the paper mulberry (KOZO). A plan to increase rapidly the production of MITSUMATA to 70,000 kgs. and KOZO to 500,000 kgs. has been started in the KUJI area, the home of these plants, under the leadership of the Agricultural Association and the Producing Association (SEISAN KUMIAI).

In the town of OTA, a conference was held to discuss steps to increase production of MITSUMATA. The prospects, for paper production are favorable, as M1TSUIMATA and KOZO plants are cultivated everywhere as foot-paths between rice -fields, banks, river-sides, lakesides of mountainous districts.

Full Transition:

(Despatched at TSUCHIURA)

An increase in the production of chestnuts, particularly the so-called IBARAGI chestnuts, has been started in the districts of ISHIOKA-Cho in IBAEAGI-Ken. The shipment of the IBASAGI chestnuts amounted to about 200,000 to 300,000 kan in the years before the war. In 1933, 5,000 kan were, for the first time exported to AMERICA for Christmas use. Since then, the IBARAGI Che tnut has vied with the Italian product, which had been without a rival in AMERICA. Afterwords, in the said districts, young chestnut trees of superior quality, "GINYOSE" (gathering of silver), were successfully raised. Recently, these trees reached a stage of production amounting to 100,000 kan. It will probably increase in years to come.

Summary:

The Government has been rusling rehabilitation plans of devastated cities. There were conferences among the members of city end town assemblies in TOYAMA-Shi and KOCHI-Shi in reply to this urgency. As a result of these conferences the cities have made out city rehabilitation plans, which have been proposed to the Reconstruction Board (FUKKO-IN) through their own prefectural governments.

When the plans are submitted again to their own Prefectural City Planning Advisory Committee (TOSHIKEIKAKU CHIHO IINKAl) by the Reconstruction Board, a formal decision will be made on them. The out lines of the two city plans are as follows: In smaller provincial cities there were no main roads over 20 meters wide, but they have been recently widened for fire preaoution purposes. TOYAMA-Shi is to widen its road to 44 meters, and KOCHI-Shi to 36 meters. Both cities will have wider subsideary roads in addition to their widened main roads. These roads will be, at least, II meters, or twice wide as they had been to accomodate heavier motor traffic.

There are to be open squares around the intersections main roads. For example, there will be 2,000 tsubo and 1,000 tsubo squares in TOYAMA and KOCHI, respectively. In these cities, 7,000 tsubo and 3,000 tsubo, respectively, will be reserved for open a squares in

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ECONOMIC SERIES 104 (Continued)

ITEM 4 (Continued)

front of railroad stations Open squares will be designed near the main parts and bridges of the cities. The stations must be divided into separate sections for passengers and for freight. The stations located in the streets will deal with passengers along, and the stations for freight along will he transferred to the outskirts of the cities.

The Government intends to have open squares and anti-fire zones, equal to 10 per cent of the area of the whole city, when the cities are rebuilt.

Full Translation:

The KAIROKUSEKI MI in SHIROISHI-Cho (KATTA-Gun, MIYAGI-Ken) is expected to help relieve the shorts of fertilizer, but it is still inactive due to the unsatisfactory transportation situation and the shortage of materials, To extricate itself, the company asked American troops stationed in SEND-1 for help. An investigation by American troops shows that the mine, contains about 80,000,000 metric tons of potassium, but it will not be extracted now because of unsatisfactory transportation and uncomplete electric equipment. Company authorities are now considering how to over come these difficulties and increase production of totasium.

Summary:

The housing program of providing 55,000 houses for the Metropolitan TOKYO dwellers having shown no progress, a MAINICHI reporter made an investigation trip to NOSEIRO district in AKITA-Ken, an important timber-supplying district of JAPAN to look into the lumber situation

The NOSHIRO River, a noted timber transportation medium has begun freezing since the middle of December and will remain frozen until the end of March of next year. The number of logs that can floated down in rafts has now been cut to half of the capacity of other seasons when. it reached 3,000 koku daily. But as far as AKITA-Ken is concerned, despite the complaints of loggers on the failure to get their special feed rations, and despite the saw-mill workers' walk-cut because of low wages, the 250,000koku quota allotted to the Prefecture for reconstruction of the TOKYO-YO OHANA districts has been completely filled. The local authorities concerned are now working on the remaining 60,000 koku of timber alloted for the shipment to KANGANA-Ken. (TN. The reporter's information about the timber situation in AKIIA-Ken ands here.)

Shortly after the end of the war, the Welfare Ministry announced its plan of building 300,000 houses in TOKYO alone, requiring one and quarter million of timber. Quotas to prefecures were announced on 13 September, and it was as late as the middle of November that every timber producing profecutures all over the country was bined up for the shipment of timber. For three months beginning with October, the shipment to TOXYO is estimated not to have exceeded 450, 000 koku.

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ECONOMIC SERIES 104 (Continued)

TEAM 6 (Continued)

Discouraging figures in timber supply are attributed to the following facts: 1. Declin in desire to work; 2. Consumption of timber for provincial reconstruction near the timber reducing districts; 3. Indecisive attitude by owners of forests who wonder whether they should watch the situation in anticipation of higher prices of timber or dispose of it once so that they would be relieved from a tax on capital; 4.The workers no longer are supplied with special food rations; 5. No Government canvasses have been made since the end of the war; 6. Insufficiency of transportation facilities; 7. Inaccesibility to woods caused by reckless deforestation during the war; 8. Damages to saw-mills in local centers.

Summary:

Even at this date the production of vital goods has not been carried on actively in this country. On reason is that various machines as well as other productive equipment were so much over-worked during the war that they have lost much of their working capacity. No essential materials needed for the repair of this equipment have yet been provided for. Such is the case with coal and other mining industries. But the main factor may be that industrialists have neither the inclination nor the sincerity for reconstructing peace-time industry. Those industrialists say that they can not reconstruct their industries under the indemnities for war loss are guaranteed firmly by the Government. If so, there should be no inactivity in coal morning and no stoppage in other mining industries. The industrialists therefore must reflect what and how they ought to act

Although the Government has drafted no plan for the reconstruction of industries, they must take strong and effective steps to meet the present situation. For instance, imdeunities may be made partly on the basic industries such as iron end steel, mining, end chemical industries, Stress may also be laid on the manufacture of producers' goods, such as vehicles ships and fertilizer. Nothing can be expected from the industry of vital goods until a rational economic policy is set up.

DISTRIBUTION "X"

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