Press translations [Japan]. Social Series 0002, 1945-11-06.

Summary and extracts:

The reconstruction of Japan rests on the shoulders of younger generation. This fall the Asahi Shimbun backed by the Education Ministry sponsored the 16th All Japan Healthiest Child Award and announced the prize winning school and regions in conjunction with the Anniversary of the Emperor Meiji. The method of judging has been changed from individual to group. The participants are classified as boys and girls, and the schools are classified as having over 101 students and having less than one hundred students. All examination cards were submitted to the Chairman of the Committee, Vice-Education Minister OMURA, Seiichi; Vice-Chairman and Chief of the Athletics Bureau SHIBANUMA, Naoshi; and Committeeman and instructor at the Imperial University KURIYAMA, Shigenobu; who compose the Central Examining Committee. The Awards ceremony will be conducted as usual at the school by Chairman OMURA, and the committee.

Winner for first place in boys division for schools of more than 101 students was ARA-MACHI National School in SEEDAI-SHI who also won last year. The National school won second place in the girls division for schools of more than 101 students. The first place winner in the girls division was HIGASHI 6 BANCHO National School who was last year's SENDAI regional second place winner. The regional winner for the boys division for all Japan was ISHIKAWA-KEN last year's winner. SHIMANE-KEN was winner of second place in boys division and winner of first place in girls division.

Boys division

(school of more than 101 students)

SOCIAL No. 2 (Continued)

ITEM 1 (Continued)

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SOCIAL No. 2 (Continued)

ITEM 1 (Continued)

Regional Standing

Boys division

Girls division

Full translations:

As the 3rd of November is Meijisetsu, His Majesty the Tenno will hold a most solemn ceremony.

His Majesty will take a seat at Kashikodokoro-Naijin at 10 a.m., and will worship reverently. His Majesty will then go to worship at KOREIDEN and SHINDEN.

IWATA SHOTEN was ordered as an Imperial Messenger to go to Meiji Shrine and worship.

His Majesty will receive greeting from the Imperial families, from ISHIWATA Minister of Imperial Household, and from a certain number of qualified persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Extracts:

Mary cases of colds have occurred, due to sudden setting in of cold weather. Care should be taken, for there may be a person with diphtheria among the people with colds. It is generally believed that diphtheria is contacted only by children, but it is now known that there are many cases among adults.

Diphtheria becomes prevelant about this time and a great many cases occur tnrough spring. There are two types, one having very high temperature fever and the other a less marked fever. Symptons are swelling of the throat, accompanied by soreness. White spots can be seen inside the throat. Breathing becomes difficult. It appears at first as a cold, when only the nose is stooped, and breathing is difficult. If the stoopage of nose becomes worse, go to a doctor and receive treatment.

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SOCIAL No. 2 (Continued)

ITEM 3 (Continued)

Medical treatment is a serum injection which cures the sickness quickly. As a prophylactic for small child, it is good to have antitoxin. For suckling child to child of five or six years, it is wise to give prophylactic prior to the prevalent period of dyphtheria. Its effect and period of immunity on various people differs. Period of immunity is usually from three to four years.

Extracts:

With the progress of unionization an increase in labor disputes is now anticipated. With this possibility in view the Department of Welfare has, in order to prevent or facilitate solution of disputes, taken steps to revise the present Labor Conciliation Law and other related laws and orders, and has also taken steps to set up new conciliation committees in each prefecture. In relation to these proposed labor conciliation committees, the Department of Welfare will notify related authorities shortly. These conciliation committees will be composed of nine members selected from capital, labor and the general public.

With reference to the settlement of labor disputes, the Government has announced that hereafter it will leave the matter to the negotiation of the parties involved and will avoid abuse by the police and the method of directed conciliation which formerly was practiced generally. The Government from now on expects fair and just settlement of labor disputes.

Summary:

The Anniversary Party for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the foundation of Wasida Middle School will be held on 3rd of November at Okuma Hall. It will be sponsored by the Alumni of the school, Minister of Home Affair Horikiri, Minister of Transportation Tanaka, and Vice Minister of Transportation Hiranaka in conjunction with Meiji-Setsu.

Full translation:

"Epidermics and war devastation are good companions" so it may be said. How we are prepared for the coming winter in this matter of epidermics. Even ordinary diseases cannot be cured only by physicians. The people who are already weakened by post-war life are now to face to face with threats of malnutrition and disease, common to the semi-subterraneon barracks life of war devastated areas. For those attacked by disease there are no hospitals. Even though the people may find a hospital, it may not care for those who do not take with them presents of rice or the like. Here is one example which happened to be noted among thousands of similar cases occurring daily in Japan.

An eight year old, Miss Teruko Mishiyama of no. 71, Nakane-machi, Meguroku, Tokyo, came back on October 23rd from her evacuation school in Toyama Prefecture, suffering from malnutrition and scabies. Her condition was so bad that the teacher carried her to her home on his back.

That night she developed a high fever, and when a local doctor was consulted on the 26th of last month it was found that she was suffering also from nephritis. The next day her condition became critical.

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SOCIAL No. 2 (Continued)

ITEM 6 (Continued)

But the doctor declined to visit her home. The mother tried other doctors, but in vain. One and all, they refused to visit a new patient.

The poor mother came back to the first physician and again solicited a call. This time the doctor declined on an excuse that he too had a fever. It was midnight when the mother visited the doctor again, this time the sick child on her back. In no way could she get the doctor to answer the doer. At last the child died on her back.

Then the mother went to a police-box. The doctor's wife who reluctantly got out of bed at the hard knock of policeman replied that it was customary to come "for a death certificate in the day time."

The above case of poor Miss Teruka is only one of countless examples. It is admitted that now-a-days there is a shortage of medical materials and that physicians themselves are overworked. Nevertheless if the medical profession had a real conscience of a benevolence, this poor child may not have had to die at the front of a doctor's home.

Full translation:

General MacArthur's Headquarters issued a directive to purge the educational system of Japan immediately of both militarists and violent nationalists. This reform in education is the most fundamental consideration in the renovation of Japanese thinking; that is, it is designed to reform our basic viewpoints. Before the directive of MacArthur's Headquarters was issued, we Japanese, were under an obligation to fulfill it immediately. Without it, the formation of a new JAPAN through the formation of new Japanese ideologies would be impossible. This is the second directive from Allied Headquarters on the problem of education.

The first one was issued on 22 October. Its purport follows. The first part that deals with the substance of education, contains regulations on the prohibition of militaristic and fanatically nationalistic ideology, on the organization of representative administration, and on the execution of educational precepts which consider international peace and personal dignity. The next part deals of the quality of persons who engage in education. It takes up matters of the discharge of professional soldiers, militarists, and those who are opposed to the occupational policy of the Allied Powers, and the reinstatement of liberals who had been dismissed. The third part deals of the corrected educational processes and so forth.

This directive supplements the first in regard to the people who may be employed as educators, and states definitely those eligible. In particular, it is remarkable that this directive prohibits the employment of returned soldiers generally as teachers, differing from the previous directive which excluded professional soldiers from the educational world.

What have the authorities in education done to satisfy these directives for the reform of education? Some of militarists and violent nationalists have retired willingly and a director of a higher school and others have been dismissed through the agitation of students who demanded their discharge, but so far as I know, the plan for reforms have not as yet proceeded generally or rapidly through the efforts of the authorities. And indeed I have heard rumors about the fact that some of liberal professors who had been excluded from the academy have been reinstating, but these returns are not complete nor systematic. Of the educational policy, Education Minister MAEDA

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SOCIAL No. 2 (Continued)

ITEM 7 (Continued)

once stated the following: "The aim of future education lies in the accomplishment of the individuality which will be uttered on the pure service for the state and society. I intend to dismiss militarists and excessive nationalists after a detailed investigation. Standardization to determine persons of bad thinking or judging ability will be broken up lest it should make for a hotbed of militarism."

He also said that he had determined to execute a great change of directors of governmental schools in the near future, but that the plan has not yet been crystallized. The change of directors of governmental schools is not effective enough in itself to reform education.

Rather a more important problem is to be found in schoolmasters of elementary schools. How severely innocent boys have been influenced by militarists! The present boys know nothing but militarism, even in song. Those who were educated after the Manchurian Affair, such as pupils or students of a middle school and a higher or technical school, cannot in the least understand even what liberty is through their own experiences. Because the reformation of the ideas of these youth is most urgent, the importance of the problem of the quality of those educators who are educating them becomes apparent. It is said that the authorities in education mean to institute a committee to study these problems in educational centers, prefectural offices, or in a university, and that its composition will consist of choice governmental individuals who will determine through examination whether or not an educator is fitted. Truly, it is better, but the need is to do it speedily. It is not a paper for the headquarters of our country, and the situation is too urgent to grant a day's idleness. Those individuals who are indiscriminately black or white should be executed as soon as possible.

As for the importance of these directives for the reformation of education, MacArthur's Headquarters emphasizes that this is re-education to promote Japan's democratic thoughts, and means to improve thoroughly the basis of Japanese thought and therefore, is one of the most principal directives in stating the occupation policy. In fact, the spiritual foundation for the reconstruction of a new JAPAN is the reform of the thought of the nation. The ideas held by the Japanese people is what led Japan to war, and what drove Japan into wretched defeat. These beliefs, uncriticized, could not avoid the war. For it is not only the crime of the military clique or its dictator, but also the belief of the people which permitted the gamble for domination that should be blamed. I hope with all my heart that the authorities will execute promptly a device for the reformation of education

Extracts:

Setagaya, Tamagawa, Okyaurs neighborhood group organization consists of 400 families, 90% of whom are middle class families while 10% are farmers. Since the middle of September 341 of these 400 households joined a cooperative organization supervised by two business men and representatives of the households. The purpose of this organization is to buy foodstuffs in addition to the insufficient government rations. Thereby time, travelling expenses and the paying of exorbitant black market prices have been curtailed to a large extent. This organization has in some instances, contracted for the entire output of vegetables of a farmer. Vegetable rationing per household has by this cooperative measure been increased 31 times over the Government ration. Through questionnaires the organization determines the wishes of the various households. Stimulated by the success of this organization, the 27th group neighborhood association of Setagaya consisting of 15,000 households has resolved to form a similar cooperative organization with the assistance of the ward office of Setagaya.

DISTRIBUTION "A"

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