Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0149, 1945-12-23.

Summary:

"Spring breezes in horse's ears" in the old Chinese poem suggests to us utter indifference like "pouring water on a frog's face" in the Japanese proverb, and they all mean, in the English expression, "like water off a duck's back". Bureaucrats in our country of late are no more than horses and frogs. The measures against this year's unprecented famine, of which serious discussion have been prevailing since early last summer, have not yet been decided. Many of us are menaced by sickness and death due to the shortage of food. This is due to the insensibility and indolence of the authorities who are entirely responsible for this problem. Indulging themselves in mere paper plans, the authorities have left bombed-out citizens houseless and shivering with cold in the winter nights. There are quantities of army clothing which have not yet been distributed to the air-raid evacuees because of the customary unfaithful way of doing business by the authorities.

In addition to these unsatisfactory conditions is food, shelter and clothing, the lack of proper medicines threatens the people. To make matters worse, there aren't sufficient doctors or hospitals especially in war-raided TOKUSHIMA. Though the supply of household medicines may be short, even treatment by a doctor will make the sick feel better.

The authorities are also the cause of preventing a doctor from entering practice. One doctor in a rural district of TOKUSHIMA asked permission of the authorities in the beginning of July to start his practice. When he got permission at the end of September, soon after the first big air-raid in TOKUSHIMA, his hospital, including medicines and apparatus, had already been utterly destroyed. Then he was obliged to remove to TOKUSHIMA Shi to commence his business there, and again asked permission which was granted three months later in December. When he visited the prefectural office to accept the certificate he was severely rebuked by the officials for having been idle during such an acute shortage in medical treatment. The authorities are to be blamed for having been Idle, not the doctor himself. Without permission, however faithful the doctor may be, he cannot pursue his duty legally.

The authorities might reflect upon their deeds once in a while even though they are of such high rank as to be deaf to the people's cries for "quick measures for the crisis".

Observing the suffering of the sick, many doctors in this Ken have beer too impatient to wait for the fickle permission of the authorities and have started their practice. We cannot expect conscientious administration from the authorities so long as they continue to blind to the real state of the people. It is the time when all outstanding questions should be solved without hesitation or delay, we are eager for deep reflection on the part of our prefectural authorities.

EDITORIAL SERIES: 149 (Continued)

Full Translation:

During the debate on the Farm Land Reform Bill in the Diet a directive was issued by the Allied Headquarters to sweep out the evils that had long been encroaching upon the agrarian community. Among these evils some are, as the order pointed out, most conspicuous. Without uprooting these evils serfdom could never be abolished. The conspicious evils pointed out by the Allied order, are the extremely small scale farming system, funds lent at high rate of interest, inhuman tenant system, unbalanced heavy taxes, and high handed control of tenant farms. The Allied order further set forth the necessity of presenting an agrarian reform outline by the 15 of next March by the Japanese Government. The Allied order further required these three items to be included in the plan. They are the giving over of the farms to the tillers by the absentee-owners; a concrete plan for buying up the farm at a proper price and a measure to prevent reduction again to tenancy. In attaining this the following measures are necessary: farming funds at a low rate of interest, protection for the farmers from, the agricultural industrialists' and merchants' exploitation, a plan for stabilizing prices of farm products, the diffusion of technical knowledge in farming, the upbringing of farm laborers union movements, and a guarantee for farm profits.

This order is undeniably one of the basic conditions for the construction of democratic JAPAN.

The immediate execution of this reform is therefore keenly needed. And the liberation of forming economy and farmer's life from the feudalistic bondage will be expected. Since the farming population constitutes one half of our nation, this reform will have an extensive influence. From this viewpoint, the democratization or modernization of our politics, economy, or culture could not be expected without this reform. This reform is therefore, as the Public Relations Office of Supreme Headquarters pointed out, an essential cornerstone for our future participation as one the civilized nations of the world.

The present extremely farming system, as placed first among the evils by the Allied order, is the basic defect in the farming system of our country and therefore we are doubtful whether it can be improved by the reform plan mentioned above. Of course, other evils such as oppression of farming economy should be removed and the inhuman tenant rate system should drastically be reformed, to be placed under a system of perfect protection. However, when the whole agrarian area is fairly distributed among the agrarian community, each farmer will have only 3 acres or 1.2 cho. This reveals vital shortage in our agrarian land, compared with AMERICA where each farmer has 47 acres, in ENGLAND, 10 acres, and 80 acres in CANADA. By the standard in KANTO district a 1.3 cho farm is the minimum requisite for a farmer who subsists exclusively on farming. This is the established idea among the agrarian society and also the conclusion reached by the agricultural investigations. By merely tilling land from 0.5 cho to 1.0 cho the household economy has been endangered unless the sons or daughters serve in the factories or mines. Unless a perfect exectuion of land distribution is performed and each farmer is allocated 1,2 cho farm, obvious shortage is inevitable as pointed out above. The natural conditions for our farming are such that a mare reform in the farming project cannot result in relief for the imporverished peasantry. This must be home in mind.

The remedy for this misery is to be found only accelerating progress in agricultural operation through scientific improvement. In other words, through study and development of scientific operation in farming,

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 149 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

the strengthening of productive power or cultivation of waste lands, or utilization of surplus farm labor could be attempted. The conclusion thus reached is that progress in technical industry is essential to the liberation of our enslaved peasants.

In this connection the limitations put on the Japanese industry by reparations are the object of our concern. The reasonsis that such limitations upon our industry will inevitably bring an indirect, if not direct, influence upon our farming projects. It goes without saying that the Allied order should be most faithfully performed. Furthermore, the requisites for liberation of peasants should be properly recognized as scientific improvement in farming operations. Along this line concrete measures must be planned and followed by this immediate execution.

Full Translation:

"Now It Can Be Told", the history of the Pacific War in Japanese, which was compiled for the first time by the Allied General Headquarters gave us much information when it was serially published in Japanese newspapers. We were, first of all, surprised by the thorough, far reaching, inquiries. Japanese readers also admit that circumstances in our homeland were quite exact as to detail as a rule, except in facts about the front. Observations were all to the point with one or two exceptions. It was not made clear as to whether or not these facts were made public to the American people during the war. But as compared with the government's news of the American home front which we heard during the war, discovered that things had been so utterly different from what we had believed that we were dumbfounded. Second, we were suprised by the serial disclosures of new facts that we had not known of before. For example, what complete routs we experienced in the Midway sea-battle and on the Philippine front! We were informed nothing of the former and heard only such a magniloquence as General YAMASHITA, Tomokuki's, "Now the enemy has fallen in with my plan". Facts are so numerous of the unimaginable atrocities which were perpetrated in every area by the Japanese troops and the announcements, "all officers and man were killed", were veritable lies. We cannot check our curiosity, shame and bitter anger at ourselves. The people could not help but be surprised at how completely decieved they had been by the Government, What on earth did the then war leaders who kept the defeats secret and continued fighting hope to accomplish? We doubt their mental capacities!

However, the above, in short, is nothing but an "American-made war history of the Pacific" after all. However exact the investigations and correct the judgments may be, there still remain many points which we cannot understand. For instance, what caused JAPAN to open the war? What was her strategy after the sudden attack on PEARL HAPBOR? What caused JAPAN's forces to break down one after the other? Notwithstanding the fact that war trends had become clearer in 1943, what was the outlook which caused JAPAN to continue the war for two years? Far more than that, what on earth did she intend to gain by the war? What were her true war aims? Some of these points, are referred to, and some are not in "Now It Can Be Told", which is seen from the UNITED STATES side. We shall know the true course of the war for the first time. We shall be able to avoid another unhappiness in the future. Newspapers report the government has set about formally to probe the causes of the defeat. We hope it will be published as soon as possible. The investigation must never made merely for the sake of investigation, but must be kept in the minds of the poeple as teachings. For this reason, we earnestly desire an official and systematic report to be made public as early as possible.

DISTRIBUTION "X"

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