Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0155, 1945-12-25.

Summary:

If we were victorious we would not know of the atrocities carried out by our forces, such as the massacres in CHINA and the PHILIPPINES, the slaughter of Japanese infants, and the mistreatment of war prisoners, all shown to us by the Allied authorities. We wonder how these outrages could have been executed by our brothers, but obviously facts speak for themselves. On battlefields, it is inevitable that men are apt to be bloodthirsty, but such a degree of lust cannot be understood.

We remember a story in which a woman witnessed war prisoners passing by and murmurred, unconsciously, "Poor fellow". Hearing this, an MP slapped her, shouting, "What makes you sorry for them?".

We recall the phrase, "Love thy Enemy", in the Bible, and even our [illegible]USHIDO (TN Code of the Warrior) preaches, "The hunter refrains from killing a wretched bird which has flown into his bosom for refuge". The crazy deeds on the part of our Army are due to military education whose principles disregard morals. Once drafted, everyone is stripped of his social place and character. The discrimination is so severe that even the difference of one rank causes the relation of master and slave.

Though not officially recognized, slapping seems to be a fundamental part of military education, and so it is no wonder that men of intelligence and character were slapped by illiterates with higher rank. Extreme formalism forced every man to blot his personality.

Dr. MATSUNAMI, professor at the TOKYO Imperial University and an authority on electric communications, is one example. He was a private in the engineers when called to the colors. Soldiers in technical corps were not selected from among technicians or technical students; inexperienced men operated scientific machines and weapons. That the defeat was inevitable under this militarized way of education, goes without saying.

Dissolution of the military forces which were the centers of such education will greatly influence the future of our Nation. The farmalism in our education was infectious, not only in the Army but also in every sphere of our society during the war.

Now is the time for deep self-analysis and the golden chance to uproot all militaristic tendencies in our country. Unless we do so, atrocitis executed as a consequence of militarized education will reappear in disguised phases.

EDITORIAL SERIES: 155 (Continued)

Extracts:

I think that Prince KONOYE, having relived his responsibility for the CKIMA. Incident, was planning to cast off war responsibility by planning a solution with the UNITED STRTES Government. If the Prince had believe himself innocent why would he not stand in a court to give his opinions frankly and to be tried justly?

The prince stood foremost among statesmen during the past ten years, is the Prince said himself, he was a fatalist. His life was a political history in itself during the SHOWA period. Without clarifying the principles of his conduct before the Nation, he supposedly settled all matters by his death, He was nothing but a coward.

We want to speak to war criminals who are thinking of suicide. We expect no more deaths. They must have had full confidence in carrying out the war. They should tell it frankly in court and receive an historical judgment. We had expected such a move from the Prince. We cannot think of KONOYE's death without remembering SOCRATES, the great philosopher of ancient GREECE, who took poison calmly, uttering his famous explanation while being condemned to death unjustly. There lies his greatness. The present self-appointed fatalist was lacking too much in courage and philosophy, (KATAGIRI, Eumio, a company employee.)

The death of Price KOHOYE has given rise to various reactions in the minds of the Japanese intelligentsia, Does not KONOYE's death represent the death of an old intelligentsia?

KONOYE was a disciple of Professor KAWAKAMI, Hajime, at KYOTO Imperial University. A prewar American magazine had conferred on him the title "ex-Marxist", The SHOWA Society for Political Reasearch, under the supervision of KONOYE, had been c[illegible]ticized as Red by rightists, He loved peace, but lacked courage. In order to support his want of courage, he instituted the Imperial Rule Ass[illegible]stance Association, but the Association was taken over by extreme rightists and he was forced to [illegible]immediately before the outbreak of the war at a time when he should have done his utmost.

KONOYE was going to become a leader of the post war liberal movement end revise the Constitution. The Constitution in his conception is said to be more democratic than the one concived by the Government. When the Emperor's responsibility for the war was being discussed, and the abolition of the Emperor System was deemed likely, he killed himself, However peaceful or democratic they may be, all intellectuals who have no basic connection with the people, are, after all, as aristocratic and fatalistic as the Prince.

At present, when labor unions have been formed and the democratic wave has been advancing, all the old. and weak things are doomed to be washed, away. However lofty a theory may be, it will perish if it is not based upon the daily life of the people, KONOYE, who had no convictions, died.

(IDE, Junichiro, a student of the TOKYO Imperial University)

The old leaders have committed, suicide one after another, Apart from the propriety of their conduct, when their hopes had been disappointed some of them went sim[illegible]ly to their death, some tried to commit suicide desterously. Others, drifting on the sea of complaints and opportunism, suddenly killed themselves when they were almost to be arrested. What kind of psychology is this?

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 155 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

Since they were of the opinion that the Emperor would have no responsibility for the war, they died irresponsible deaths. Weren't they aware of the fact that their deaths [illegible]to increase the Emperor's responsibility? When they received warrants for their arrest, why didn't they do their utmost to clear the Emperor or to clear the Nation’ suspicions by preserving their lives to the last?

If they had whole-heartedly loved JAPAN, or thought of the future of the country at all, they would have been able to take other measures than suicide,

(TAMAKA, Takamesa, dental worker)

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