Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0143, 1945-12-22.
Date22 December, 1945
RepositoryRauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College.
Call Numbereditorial-0464
Call NumberDS801 .S82
Persistent Identifier
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 143
ITEM 1 An Appeal to Agrarian Producers - Mainichi Shimbun - 20 Dec 45. Translator:
K Hirata.
Full Translation:
The Land Reform Bill has finally passed the Diet. The Government intends to offer
to the present tenants 1,500,000 chobu of
arable land in order to create landed cultivators and at the same time substantially
cut rentals 85 per cent below existing
levels by establishing payment of rent in money. This means a start in the democratization
of farming communities by the
creation of landed farmers.
For this entirely unprecedented reform, the a[illegible]arian population must be thankful for the defeat,
strange as it may seam. To be sure, the movement for creating landed farmers began
in 1921, but it is undeniable that in the
movement there was involved something of a plot by capitalists who wanted to cr[illegible]ate small landed
cultivators at the expense of some landlords to check the then prevailing stru[illegible]le in farm
communities which was a result of the depression. These struggles threatened to affect
seriously the strife between capital
and labor. The ZAI[illegible]ATSU is [illegible]ow speeding substantially its own
dissolution.
The new scheme of creating landed farmers is of the TAISHO type in essence, but different
in objective. It aims to stimulate
production by permitting tenants the ownership of their own land and disposal of their
produce as they see fit.
Inflation, however, is growing progressively worse. This is particularly the case
in the price of food. According to the 19
December announcement of the Tokyo Central Market, tuna was quoted at 12,000 yen par
one hundred kamme, Everybody knows how
high the black market prices for rice, wheat, or potatoes is. We are sometimes obliged
to buy there in spite of the price
because it is impossible to sustain ourselves on official rations. By this, the writer
does not mean that farmers are war
profiteers. Nevertheless, how fortuned it is that they should be able to get arable
land for their own use if they so wish in
these times of inflation. When one tuna costs the equivalent of one chobu of rice
field.
It is unpardonable for farmers to gloat over the possession of land without striving
to produce more than ever, especially at
a time when most of the nation is threatened with starvation. The democratization
of farm communities must bring with it both
an increase in production and the smooth delivery of produce to the government.
Up to the present, a very poor record is reported in delivery. The Agriculture and
Forestry Ministry previously set the total
quantity of [illegible]ice, including various cereals, to be delivered by farmers at 26,590,000 koku, and
established proportionate quotas to various farming districts. The result however,
was that only 2,939,000 koku were delivered
by 10 December, a two-third decline compared with the corresponding period of last
year. The chief cause may be attributed to
this October
EDITORIAL SERIES: 143 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
floods. In addition, it has become increasingly difficult for farmers to secure such
necessities as farm tools, fertilizer and
work clothes unless they offer stable food in exchange. The consumers are well aware
of this. Farmers are apt to declare that
they were cheated into production during the war. Nevertheless, it is not only farmers
who were cheated. As many as 80,000,000
persons, who were all cheated by the warlords, are now struggling for existence in
this small nation, entirely dependent upon
the minimum production available. This is the reason we demand total effort for maximum
delivery well as for production on the
part of farmers.
It is not an exaggeration to s[illegible]y that farmers now have the power of life, and death over the rest
of the nation. Up to the present, the Government and farm communities have been pitted
against each other over the issue of
delivery. This opposition, however, is in danger of developing into that between farmers
and all consumers, with the urban
population in the middle.
Lieutenant Colonel SCHENCK reported that farmers here probably take as much food
as they used to take in the prewar years.
According to [illegible]ATO, Kanji, a famous agrarian leader, a farmer usually takes, unconsciously, as much
as four thousand calories a day. The poor record in delivery of products to the Government
is su[illegible]ly caused by overeating on the part of farmers themselves. We can not overabuse those
politicians and their supporters who
are currying favor with farmers, with the forthcoming general election in view, by
stating that this important problem of
delivery to the Government particularly vital.
ITEM 2 Prince KONOYE's Memorandum and his Character - Mainichi Shimbun - 21 Dec 45.
Translator: I.
Kuniko.
Full Translation:
The memorandum written by the late Prince KONOE has clarified his viewpoints on the
CHINA Affair, the Tripartite Alliance and
the war between the UNITED STATES and JAPAN. He went to AMERICA in 1934 to confer
on the Chinese problem. Before he started,
he talked with CHIA[illegible], [illegible]SOPING, then Chinese Minister to JAPAN, of
peace between JAPAN and CHINA. The Japanese military felt dissatisfied with the reply,
"We will pass by the Manchurian problem
for the time being" submitted by CHINA, and the matter ended in failure.
Even KOKOE, then Prime Minister, could not understand the actual facts of the MARCO
POLO Bridge Incident. Admiral YO[illegible]I himself said the Incident was mysterious. Furthermore, ISHIHARA, Kanji, then head
of the First
Section of the General Staff Office, ordered that the Incident not be extended, but
his order was incomplete. He said that he
had been betrayed by those who obeyed outwardly and disobeyed inwardly. The General
Staff Office, under [illegible]ice-Chief TADA, was of the opinion that the Incident should not spread, while the
War Ministry, under
Minister SUGIY[illegible]A, was of the opinion that it should be exploited. Therefore, with the military
itself lacking a fixed policy, the Incident seemed to spread, by the force of circumstances.
The leaders in the Incident were,
in the Army, MI[illegible]AMI and KOISO, and in the Navy, SUBTSUGU. In the Cabinet meeting, OTAMI, then
Minister of Oversea Affairs, asked the military when they would stop fighting. SUGIYAMA
kept silent, and YONAI replied. Then,
SUGIYAMA interrupted him in[illegible]his talk, and cried, "Are you so foolish to state such a fact here?"
The meeting chilled. Prince KO[illegible]OE, stating that JAPAN would take no notice of CHIANG KAISHRK,
nevertheless, continued peace negotiations with CHINA, but failed.
The Tripartite Alliance was proposed by G[illegible]RMA[illegible]Y during the first KONOE
Cabinet and came into being in the second KONOE Cabinet. G[illegible]RMANY was
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 143 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
of the opinion that by forming the Alliance the [illegible]ntry of the UNITED STATES into the war would be
checked clearing the [illegible]for [illegible]RUSSIA. An advocate of peace between UNITED
STATES and JAPAN, he was cautious with regards to the SO[illegible]IET, and had believed that the Tripartite
Alliance would be the best way to come to an understanding with the UNITED STATES.
The Alliance[illegible]was concluded, anticipating SO[illegible]IET participation, but when MATSUONA, Yosuke, then Foreign
Minister, visited G[illegible]RMA[illegible]Y, the Prince changed his opinion, holding
that JAPAN would have to attack the SOVIET. But, MATSHOKA, returning home from GERMANY,
concluded a nonaggression treaty with
RUSSIA. When the war between GERMANY and the SOVIET UNION broke out, the Tripartite
Alliance really lost its value.
There were three phases in the Alliance: (1) An alliance with the SOVIET UNION, (2
) Winning the SOVIET UNION to our side, and
(3) The outbreak of the war. Prince KONOE, considering GERMANY unreliable, tried to
consult with the War Minister on
abrogation of the Alliance, but he was opposed. He had repeatedly maintained that
there was no connection between the
Tripartite Alliance and the United States-Japanese war. While JAPAN continued negotiations
with the UNITED STATES, the Army,
holding fast to an alliance with GERMAMY, interrupted and all came to naught. The
navy, meantime, approved the strengthening
of Axis relations, and hesitated in concluding an alliance with GERMANY. Naval Minister,
YOSHIDA, in anguish, resigned from
the post, but the next Minister OIKAWA simply approved it, for the national political
situation did not permit opposition.
Admiral YAMANOTO, Isoroku, was still one of the elements against the Alliance. The
negotiations with the UNITED STATES were at
first approved by the Army and Navy, but then the former became indifferent and cultivated
a jingoistic policy in order to
prevent a reduction in munitions. The leaders of the Navy, until the resignation of
the KONO[illegible]Cabinet, supported the continuage of negotiations, but in deference to relations with
the Army and within itself, they out
wardly left the matter entirely to Premier KOMOE.
As described above, it is clear that KONOE's responsibility was not small. He attributed
his weakness in the CHINA Affairs to
the fact that a Cabinet structure is weaker than the prerogatives of a supreme command.
It is clear that he did not fully do
his best to check the spread of the CHINA Incident. He overlooked the misdeeds of
the Army. It cannot be denied that when he
concluded the Tripartite Alliance, he had been sympathetic to GERMANY. He blundered
in his belief that he could restrain the
UNITED STATES by forming the alliance, and petitioned the Emperor to issue [illegible]rescript to suppress
public opinion. After that, thinking that the alliance should have to be abrogated
because of GERMANY's betrayal, he kept
silent. It was not entirely due to the weakness of his will that he had been unable
to check the outbreak of war between the
UNITED STATES and JAPAM, but it was, in the last analysis, due to the fact that he
could do nothing beyond his capacity.
ITEM 3 Non-delivery of Agriculture Products - Mainichi-Shimbun - 21 Dec 45. Translator:
K. Ketel.
Full Translation:
We farmers do not intend to deliver to the Government a single bag of rice from this
[illegible]'s crop. The
reason for this is as follows:
The executives of the agriculture association of our village brought home many commodities
from military clothing d[illegible]rots when the war ended. We are very angry about the way in which these leaders were
coming to the
office proudly wearing these stolen [illegible]oods. When they sold the surplus commodities in the black
market, we were enraged. The only reason
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 143 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
these individuals could remain unpunished was by taking advantage of the tolerance
of the village leaders and the police
regarding such crimes. In such a disgusting state of affairs we are reluctant to offer
our farm produce submissively to the
authorities. Moreover, in our village a policeman stole an American official's blanket.
That is not all! In order to strengthen their influence, the chief of the agricultural
association together with group leaders
and executive chiefs, appropriated more than half of the wine which was to be distributed
among farmers in order to accelerate
the delivery of food. They held banquets and carried this wine along on their journeys.
If such corrupt elements and policemen
are not purged, the farmers will not deliver their crops. (A farmer of a village in
KITA-ADACHI - Gun, SAITAM[illegible]-Ken)
The consumers of the city hold bitter feeling against the farmers, and on the other
hand these farmers express their
bitterness against the quasu-government office, the Agriculture Association. Even
vicious merchants, who, after all, are
merchants, know how to handle agrarian products, but the sole aim of the members of
the agriculture association is to satisfy
their stomachs. The farmer, when he offers his produce, is discouraged by the thought
that he has to present them to such
accursed elements as the member of the agriculture association. He has no incentive
to produce if his product is to be
appropriated by corrupt officials.
The agriculture association, since it is the liaison agency between the Government
and farmers, is in the most favorable
position to aid the food shortage. Up till now it had only to urge the farmers to
deliver and to deduct the percentage for
special distribution for farmers. The members of this association drank untaxed wine.
Because of their powerless position,
tenants became the bait of the agriculture association, and prominent persons like
landowners exempt from, such tyranny. What
would be the future of the poor farmers? An organization such the agriculture association,
which int[illegible]rupts the distribution of goods and menaces the nation's welfare, must be abolished
as soon as
possible. (A repatriated student. FU[illegible]USHIMA-Ken)
DISTRIBUTION "X"
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