Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0010, 1945-11-14.

Full translation:

Extraordinary war expenditures and prepaid funds are the focus of current discussion, and now the bribery case involving the payment of 10 million yen to the TOJO families was bared by the Public Relations Office Allied Supreme Headquarters. It is too much to imagine that it was because of this that TOJO "felt at ease as he had trusted future affairs to a certain count who had formerly been his secretary", as he said when he tried to commit suicide. But we feel that we were shown an example contrary to the traditional proverb that "the country will be in security and peace, if the civil officials do not love money and military officials do not love their lives."

Anyhow, if the very Japanese, who were glad to be caressed on the head or patted on the shoulder by the "hero of the century", now suddenly turn and treat him as a traitor or as a thief, it is a bit like "spitting, up to heaven." What is necessary is that such an ugly mistake as was made by TOJO must never be repeated.

Full translation:

The present temporary school schedule was determined by the Department of Education which aims at self-supply of food for school-boys. To provide for this, the hours for lessons may be exchanged for those given over to farming, or students may go to school and farm alternatively as in "half watch ashore" according, to the judgement of the schoolmaster. It may be a good idea in these circumstances that schoolboys get the food both for their souls end for their bodies by their own hands.

The Education Minister, talking about flexibility of education, hoped for rationalism and the development of science on the part of students. He doesn't want uniformity, and said that "the war for Japan's life has just begun", There is nothing, new in these words, yet they sound hopeful to a nation which suffered much from each of order in civil policies during the war.

Now the life "to farm on a clear day and read on a rainy day" is to begin. We hope that those concerned will not misunderstand the true sense of what the minister said.

EDITORIAL SERIES: 10 (Continued)

Full translation:

The government abolished the local governor-general's office and established the local administrative office. The efficiency of the local governor-general was never known except in the execution of the war. But it is clearly recognized that the traditional prefectural system is not sufficient to meet the emergency. So the local administrative office seems to have been established with the intention of restoring the old system, which former home Minister YAMAZAKI couldn't attain at the end of war. The competence of the local administrative office is almost similar to that of the administrative conference which was the antecedent of the local governor-general. The chief of the administrative office may have the right to give directives only to the local office under his control, It is not clear that difference lies between the legal words "generalization, liaison and regulation" and "unification and promotion," But we cannot but doubt first, how the objectives can be attained by the chief administrative officer who has such limited powers and whose part is combined with that of the prefectural governor. Secondly, we wonder why the government couldn't establish [illegible]wide-district system, because it recognized the practical necessity of the so-called wide administrative district system and promised the public choice of prefectural governors. We cannot help seeing in this fact the irresponsibility and temporizing attitude of the bureaucrat. In other words, we feel that they were not willing, to recognize the tendency towards the new district system or to study it. In short, we must point out that this revision of off the local governor-generalship is only temporary, and the important problem still regains unsettled. Now, the whole nation of Japan is making, progress toward democracy, as a result of defeat in the war carried out by the military clique and bureaucrats, and the acceptance of POTSDAM Declaration, and it is natural that the local system of the government with which civil life is most deeply concerned is destined to be revised or abolished.

This task cannot be entrusted to the bureaucrats of the Home Department. In view of the previous instances, they are still bureaucrats; however, strongly they may emphasize such a democratic slogan as "cooperation of the government and the people," "For the people" or "With the mind of people." They can never be democratic.

In every agricultural city and village in the mountain or in fishing, this problem ought to be discussed.

The government gave only a promise of public choice system of local governors in the district system. There are still left such important problems as the relation of local to the central government, methods of election and the system of appointment and dismissal of local officials etc. The part which the self-governing spirit plays in the democratic system is very important. It can be said without exaggeration that democracy is never attained without the self-governing spirit. When we consider the important work which may be carried out by the local people in the construction of the democratic system, we believe that the significance of this problem of the local administrative system cannot be over-estimated by the Japanese people. Now we request the Japanese people to hold firmly to the resolution of solving this problem by themselves, strict supervision of the wriggling bureaucrat, landlords, and native bosses who are planning to oppose the new local system.

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 10 (Continued)

Full translation:

The new party formed out of the remnants of the now defunct Japan Political Association, DAI NIPPON SEIJIKAI, sounds somewhat inconsistent, but it is a new party at any rate.

The democratic Party (MINHON-TO) composed of former members of the now defunct Seiyu-Kai and Minsei-Kai will be formally inaugrated on November 16. Two hundred and thirty or forty House members are expected to join the Democratic Party. Thus the Democratic Party as well as the Japan Liberal Party (NIPPON JIYU TO) and the Japan Social Party (NIPPON SHAKAI-TO), are now ready to go into action as the three major political parties in JAPAN'S new political scene. Under the present condition the Democratic Party is expected to win the majority in the Diet. But such an expectation leaves the voters out of consideration. In the forthcoming election the increase of new male voters due to lowering of age-limit is evident and in addition net a few will be new voters, who had hitherto no franchise on account of military or naval service. So things will not go as the leaders of the existing political parties wish. The women's viewpoint must be different from that of male voters. We cannot say what inclination will be shown by female voters. But at any rate all candidates will do their best to win these female voters.

If more or less well-known female candidates stand, they will be formidable rivals to male candidates, but there are few current women questions which are attractive. Candidates will rather find it more effective to appeal to female voters by representing the general public interests. The problems of our daily life will appeal most to women. The indications are that more than seven or eight millions of our population will be jobless in the near future. This is a serious matter which will have a keen effect upon business women, and yet it is not a question peculiar to women.

Before the woman suffrage law was put into practice under the Federal Constitutional Law in AMERICA, in some States where woman suffrage was already in effect, women and the right to ask for the living expenses for their own children from their husbands even while living with the latter. And it was also in these States where the women had suffrage, that the surplus family allowance system of laborers with children was put into practice. First of all it is necessary to give Japanese women the "Right to higher education" before enhancing their social standing. It may, however, delay giving them the "Right to be officials." Because of the secret ballot we cannot judge the peculiarity shown by women voting. Once in days of the WEIMAR government, the GERMAN authorities took a census of votes casted by women, the result of which showed women's conservative inclination. Thus it displayed paradoxically that the conservative party which was opposed to woman suffrage was supported by a large number of female voters themselves. The writer hopes that Japanese women voters will not fail to conform to the expectations of the MacARTHUR'S headquarters. And again the writer hopes that real Japanese women will be opposed to such female liberalists who adore the manlike mien and attitude.

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 10 (Continued)

Full translation:

In order to bring about a renovation in official personnel the use of civilians has been strongly advocated. This has been realized at present only to a limited extent. For instance, according to the recent reshuffle of prefectural governors, the names of only four civilians were listed among them. As the saying is "the mountain in labor has brought forth only a mouse". As a result, we greatly appreciate the appointment by Education Minister MAEDA of Dr. TANAKA Kataro, professor at the Imperial University, as chief of the school's Education Department, and Mr. SEKIGUCHI Toi as chief of the Social education Department.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister MATSUMURA, Who had gone to the length of adopting KAWAI, Y., his fellow-countryman, as the Vice-Minister, was expected to make an extraordinary change in personnel after consulting with Mr. KAWAI, but the result was entirely contrary to our expectation. With exception of the reinstatement of WADA Hiro one of the victims of the former difficulties in the Planning Bureau, the majority of shifts in the Ministry have been made within the narrow circles of the personnel of the same ministry. However, from among provincial officials several persons were appointed to positions not lower than the section-headships.

We know well that the appointment of a few civilians can never overcome the solidarity or the inelastic thinking of bureaucrats. Vice-Minister KAWAI also knows this because of his previous bitter experiences in the Communication Office. Bureaucrats say that this is the opinion of persons who do not realize the situation and that at the last moment civilians are not willing to take any post in bureaucratic circles. Such may be true, but we dare say they do not know the technique of selection. The four civilians previously mentioned are more than fifty years of age while in comparison, are not the governors who graduated from the Imperial University in 1928 or 1929 somewhere around forty years of age? When a civilian is asked to come into the official circle, the position given to him must be outstanding not only from the individual but from the public point of view. In the case of the four persons all of them have their own careers which equal or surpass the rank of governor, so they will not think they have been greatly promoted even though they are made governors. If secretaries of some forty-two or three years of age are made governors, it would not be overly magnanimous to appoint civilians about forty years of age to governorships, and thus make it simpler to keep them in official circles.

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