Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0179, 1945-12-30.

Summary:

Everyone acknowledges that education is the first step in building JAPAN. Reform has begun, but we must not forget to reform the school inspectors and head masters as well as the teachers. The greatest cause for the self-aggrandizement of leaders in education was the system of school inspections by commissions. That is to say, all during the war and even now, the relations of each school master and the school inspectors were marked by bribery and consisted of a round of dinner parties.

The teachers selected had to go all over the place for food and sometimes schoolmistresses were assigned roles as geishas and waitresses. Nothing could be said about it because the orders came down from the head master, opposition to which meant the loss of position. Hence young, talented, educators are now in a position where they are obliged to submit to such indignities or leave the educational world. We must institute reforms to prevent inspectors from making personal selections. Furthermore, we should dismiss all headmasters who have fostered the militaristic spirit in elementary schools.

The majority of inspectors who work in local offices merely flatter the local office chiefs. Educators have cried out for the improvement of living conditions but it is surprising that there are no voices against the school inspection system. Probably it is because the teachers are accustomed to being oppressed and are unable to indicate their intentions. Nevertheless, we must reform this evil school inspection system to establish a brilliant and just educational world, full of hope for a new JAPAN.

Full translation:

The totalitarian Lower House was properly dissolved on 18 December. Next year we should form, for our welfare, a democratic Lower house by our general will in order to get the first peacetime Parliament to deliberate and to decide upon on emergency tax law and an extraordinary budget. Moreover, we must put into practice a great social policy for relieving such great calamities in the national life as have been brought on by the defeat. Such is the basic outline for the next Diet.

In order to remember and to investigate how the three great bills passed by the late extraordinary parliament were deliberated and to what extent

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the bills were discussed democratically or undemocratically, we must follow these two suggestions:

• 1.It is necessary to demonstrate how undemocratic a large number of the Lower House representatives were and how they still are in the coming general election.
• 2.It is necessary to suggest how the three great bills, amended and decided upon by such undemocratic, feudalistic, and capitalistic members, will be revised by both the new parliament and national opinion which are to be democratized according to the POTSDAM Declaration.

It is needless to discuss the Election Law, one of the three great bills. In the Law a major electoral district system and a restrictive plural ballot system, as decided in the original bills drawn up by competent authorities, were pitifully trodden down by self-interested ideas of the majority party and were changed to such a degree that the coming renewed Parliament will still remain the old fascist one.

What should we do to correct such a mistake and to justify the election? There will be no other way except for all voters to either give their votes to new candidates, who will cautiously investigate the policies of the three political parties and will boldly carry democratic principles into practice, or to democratize the new Parliament by discriminating individually between the character, fidelity, and statesmanship of the former members. In this way, it will be possible for JAPAN to be democratized socially, politically and economically.

It is clear that the amended Labor Union Law has taken a step toward the democratization of unions in recognizing officially autonomous unions for the eight million workers in the country, as well as collective bargaining. The increasing power of unions in politics is weakened, however, by the deletion of the last two conditions, — that is, "improving workers' economic, social and political state" as emphasized by the original bill. This will be an obstacle in evolving the JAPAN Social-Democratic Party to such a state as the English Labor Party. In the recovery from, the defeat, opposition between capitalists and workers must be avoided as far as possible, but such opposition always exists in society, and hence, the amended Labor Union Law should be properly revised.

The amended Farm land System Bill protects the landowners and is too far away from the intentions of the SCAP directive. The Cabinet has decided that landowners' holdings should be raised from three cho to five cho. It has decreased the acreage to be possessed by tenants by 500,000 cho and has greatly diminished the farmers' will to increase production or delivery. However, such a basic reform as would allow tenant farmers to pay by money instead of by crops will more effectively support them.

In a word, a newly-born democratic Parliament should necessarily try again to revise the three great bills already passed.

Full translation:

With the furious speed of a stone rolling from the top of a mountain the defeated Japanese Nation, too, is rolling down a rugged path into an abyss. The food crisis, dearth of dwellings, increase in inflation,

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crowded transportation facilities , and other had situations grow steadily worse like a snowball, and like a huge avalanche are bearing down on the entire Nation. Of course, we cannot say that the Government has not realized this. It has considered and planned various countermeasures, and some of its proposals have been introduced into the last Diet session. However, while they deliberated, these conditions passed into a critical state before any remedial steps had been taken. While Government officials were consulting about controlling lumber in order to solve the question of housing, the cold wave arrived and the capital has already met with the first snowfall of the season.

In spite of the report that the coal crisis has taken a turn for the better, the number of trains in operation has been cut down still more. Disregarding the possibility that black market prices would be officially recognized, the fixed price system was rescinded on the on the grounds that it is better that products appear on the open market. Indeed, almost every kind of commodity has appeared on the market. The prosperity of all black market centers proves this fact. The fair distribution system has been forgotten by the people and outrageous black market prices have emptied the citizens' purses to the very bottom.

The following figures give an account of the present situation; The withdrawal of deposits from the banks reached an average sum of 100 million yen daily, and the issuance of bonds of the Bank of JAPAN reached a total of 200 million yen daily. Furthermore, some people are changing their money into goods in order to escape the property and war profit taxes. This, however, will increase inflation. Both taxes were established to halt the tide of inflation, but the result was just the contrary. Thus, since these taxes were put into effect, the rolling snowball has already passed through the barrier, and we may say, the snowball has become too large to be halted. JAPAN could not win the war because of her slowness in accomplishing things and for the same reason is now approaching ruin from complacency.

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