Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0354, 1946-02-19.

Full Translation:

Dr. SASAKI, Soichi, who assisted the late Prince KONOE in drafting the revised Constitution a lecture on 12 February at the YAMAGUCHI Higher School, and after the meeting he talked on the subject of the Constitutional problems in reply to questions of the correspondent

Question: What has become of the draft of the government on the Constitution?

Answer: I don't like to refer to it because it is a provisional one, and is not decided on as yet.

Question: What do you think of the Imperial Prerogative and of the article which defines the Emperor, as 'sacred and inviolable'?

Answer: The Emperor is a man, too. 'Sacred' does not mean 'mysterious'. The phrase means that the nation should appreciate the particular dignity of the Emperor and not take a destructive attitude against him.

Question: Has he no responsibility?

Answer: From the legal point of view the Emperor has a responsibility, too. The number of the articles of the present Constitution is 76, while the articles, which I have drawn up freely, number 100 up to the present. I should like to answer it when it is revealed.

Question: Is the Privy Council to be abolished or not?

Answer: I do not think it necessary to abolish it. There must be an organ to which the Emperor makes questions when he will. I think, however, that there is no need to let everything go through the Privy Council.

Question: Then, what do you think of the House of Peers?

Answer: There is a reason for maintaining it; that is to say, there may be an organ through which bills passed by the House of Representatives can be re-investigated from different angles. The House of Peers is worth having in this sense of the word. However, the so-called professional representatives are to be formed in the House of Representatives.

Question: Let me know your view on democracy.

POLITICAL SERIES 354 (Continued)

ITEM 1 (Continued)

Answer: I don't like to adopt such a word, because democracy is a co-ordinate concept to monarchy. I prefer the 'principle of the people's will' or the 'polity "by the people's will' to 'democracy'. Generally, people confuse the sense of 'democracy', I think.

Full Translation:

The political center for building a new JAPAN is now said to have removed from the Premier's official residence to the headquarters of the Communist Party, which is showing amazing activity since Mr. NOZAKA, Sanzo's home-coming.

Miss MAKI, Yu, Chief of the women's section the TOKYO Local Committee of the Communist Party, is not yet eligible for election, being only 24 years old. Like KATO, Shizue, she comes from a noble family and graduated from the Peeresses' School. After that she entered, the JAPAN Women's College, After about one year's study, she left the college since she was dissatisfied with the reactionary method of teaching. Later she entered the NAKAJINA Airplane Factory against her parent's wishes. She carried on the study of socialism, offering opposition to militarism. From January, 1945 till the termination of the war, namely, for about eight months, she is said, to have been locked up. She joined the Communist Party formally last October.

The sagacious looking hiss MAKI, who gives no impression of a female fighter, tells of her motive for joining a leftist movement, as follows: "The motive, if there was any, might have been a revulsion I had against a world full of inconsistencies. At the schools where I was studying, there were many daughters of noblemen and the upper classes who drive automobiles and keep housemaids, whereas in rural communities in the North Eastern districts daughters are being sold away at the price of single obi of a rich daughter, aren't they? Doubting the social system and family system, I had come to study sociology. By reading the declaration of the Communist Party, I have come to understand what truth is. From my school days I was fond, of mathematics and physics; so I thought I would become a scientist, at one time. At present my parents also understand my point of view.

In reply to questions concerning the status of the Communist Party, Miss MAXI says, "I am of the opinion that the Communist Party must become a true friend of the Japanese women who are up to this day placed under feudalistic, slavish conditions. At present, only 3 or 4 women are going to run in the election. As far as the circumstance permit, we must strive to ret enough candidates to cope with the upholders of the Emperor System. Not only at the election campaign, but also through daily life, we should deliver the enslaved women and solidify women's organizations in professional fields as well. The emancipation of women must be viewed as a problem of the people as a whole. The emancipation of women, is only then possible when sexual equality is secured in all fields of human activities. I should like to advise, "women, be human beings again!" free from the shackles of the feudalistic female virtues, made up by the male sex. Women should stick to their rights."

I happened to find on a table an AKAHATA, the paper of the party - someone had been reading it. It contained a poem reading as follows:

Youngsters! harden up your bodies for the day to come, when noble hearts can be displayed to the world."

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POLITICAL SERIES: 354 (Continued)

Summary:

The Chief Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Mr. KATAYAMA spoke as follows with regard to the organization of the democratic common front:

"The Social Democrats are definitely different from the Communists. We advocate parliamentarianism, the Emperor System and even intend to use the ready-made distribution organizations (such as f[illegible]OGYOKAI and SHOKURYO-EIDAN) although we will democratize them. Although the platforms recently advocated by the Communists show their conciliatory attitude, we still do not know whether they will admit parilmentarianisn. If the Communist Party admits it, there is no different[illegible]between us concerning democracy. However, there is a doubt that they will try to carry out a violent revolution in order to bring about a proletarian dictatorship. So, you see there is a great difference between us.

"If the bourgeoisie front is joined between the Progressive and the Liberal Party, however, we will necessarily form our democratic front. If the Diet after the general election will reflect public opinion, we will be able to adopt a conciliatory policy. But the time has not arrived yet."

Full Translation:

For the first time sine the inauguration of radio broadcasting, election campaigns will be reported by air through the forty-two broadcasting stations in the country simultaneously from about 4 March on. The spokesman of the Radio Department of the Information Board of the Allied Headquarters announced his views as follows in his interview with the pressmen on 15 February.

"We allow those representing political parties now facing the general election who want to make public their political views to do so during the period from about 4 March till the 30th of month. The hours for the broadcast are from 6:30 till 7:00 in the morning every day, from 2:30 till 3:00 in the afternoon, and from 9:00 till 9:30 at night. On Friday nights the broadcast will be conducted from 8:00 till 8:30. The only trouble is that there is a certain limitation to the broadcasting hours, so that all the political parties cannot send their representatives to speak through the radio. Accordingly, we draw a dividing line between major and minor parties, and only those majority parties which have their own candidates in the abouve twelve prefectures as can speak over the radio to the whole of JAPAN. The minority parties can broadcast through the broadcasting station in their respective provincial electorate.

"Broadcasting hours are fairly allotted to the political parties by the persons in charge of the program of the JOAK Broadcasting Statior For further fairness' sake, three distinguished, each representing the conservative, liberal and ultra left-wing parties, are chosen to help the work, acting as consultative committeemen. Application can be made for the allotment of broadcasting hours to the chief program organizer of the TOKYO Broadcasting Station, but unless an authentic representative of a party applies for the allotment, it will not be given. The application will be received up to 15 March. Apart from this, special hours are reserved in the forty-two broadcasting stations throughout the country for indiviual representatives to publish their private political views. The order of broadcasting will be fixed according to the order of applications made by representatives at the broadcasting stations in the prefectures they belong to, where they will be recieved and registered in due order."

DISTRIBUTION "X"

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