Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0220, 1946-01-09.

Summary:

The reconstruction of the Diet is very import ant for a democratic revolution! however, the reconstruction of provicial administration is also important for the provincial people, because it presents the problem of the public election of governors and other democratic reformations. The coming election of the members of the Prefectural Assembly, which is to be the first step in the reconstruction of provincial administration, will be held in June or July of this year.

The present Prefectural Assembly was organized through an election in September in 1939 and has been out of date for seven years. Therefore, it should be wholly referred through a new vote of the prefectural people. The coming election has an important meaning, because the Assembly is not only an organization for discussion of prefectural administrations, but also an organization for selecting a governor, the supreme commander of administration. The prefectural Assembly, hereafter, should select our governor according to the will of the people in the prefecture, although in the past the Assembly has been kept apart from the people.

To accomplish this, each person in this prefecture should take administrative responsibility and exert himself to restore the Assembly to the hands of the people of the Prefecture. The object of the democratization of provincial administration is the public selection of a governor.

In this prefecture governors have changed so frequently that our development has been checked. Hereafter, if the public select a governor, his term will last for three or four years; consequently, the old evil pratices will be swept away and real effective administration can be expected.

Even though we have been given opportunity for the reformation of the provincial systems by the victors of the war, it is a good thing for our people, and it is up to the people of our prefecture to make the best of this gift.

Summary:

We are not able to see any New Year's decorations this year, and there are many who are suffering from a shortage of food, though the first days of the New Year should be happy ones. Neither the history of JAPAN nor various customs which are particular to JAPAN will be forgotten by those citizens who have lost in air raids that which they possessed, It is irresponsible of people to think that we Japanese, have been led to the present situation only by the rule of militarists, officials and plutocrats. We may say that deterioration of morality as well as the rule of the leading parties have caused this deplorable result.

EDITORIAL SERIES: 220 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

Militarists wanted to oppress the people by their power. Officials wanted to make them work under their direction. Plutocrats, too, wanted to handle the general public as they liked. These leaders of our Country, in collaboration with each other, caused the war. Most of us are likely to think in this way. It is indeed true that the war was the very means of satisfying their ambitions. However, most of the people acted as they liked during the war. Such selfishness of the leading parties caused worse results than that of the people, for their acts had an Important connection with foreign affairs. It is, therefore, unreasonable to blame only the leaders of our country. We must make on effort to restore the lowered standards of co-operation with each other.

However, it is indeed deplorable to see morality being ignored among the people. General Headquarters stated that JAPAN has adequate food to support the people and that it is because of the inscrupulous methods of distribution that the people suffer from hunger or sickness. That may be right. We often see the staffs of distributing centers in TOKUSHIMA-shi commit dishonest acts. JAPAN will never be able to revive unless these potty crimes are entirely prevented.

We hear of freedom and democracy these days. Freedom means the releasing of the people from unjust restraints . Democracy means mutual aid between each member of society, and it never allows one to act just as one like. Anyone who lives in this world must be bound to the orders of society and must think of others. We must always think, .honestly and try to elevate ourselves.

Full Translation:

General MacARTHUR presented to the Japanese Nation two nice New year's gifts. One is the directive ordering dissolution of ultra - nationalistic organizations; the other is the order to remove militarists from public office.

The measures to be taken as result of the two orders are, the final touch in the process of making JAPAN democratic. It may be that 4 January will become a national holiday, since on that day many of the people who had made JAPAN the worst country in which to live, who had dragged JAPAN into the bog of barbarism, arrogance, and meaness, and who had obstructed the awakening of the Japanese people in spite of being Japanese themselves, were forced to retire from public Office.

The only point which disappointed us was the establishment of categories in selecting people to be removed. There are some democratic-minded people who fit into the categories, while there are many responsible for the war who are not included. Though the general procedure should be determined by the categories, SCAP should go further and nominate individuals involved. The nomination will make the Japanese people more thoroughly understand the significance of the directive.

Be that as it may, we are rather disgusted at the utter lack of political, sense displayed by the Japanese Nation, With a democratic revolution going on before their eyes, something which their enlightened predecessors could not bring about in decades of bloody effort, the Japanese Nation shows no interest. There is no sign of joy on their faces. They show no delight in their eyes. They are politically dull and politically ignorant. Being so insensate, the Japanese masses will never provide the force to bring about democracy.

What about the younger people? On this day of national rejoicing, they waste their time in amusement places. How indifferent they are to politics

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EDITOIRAL SERIES: 220 (Continued)

ITEM 3 (Continued)

which is so intimately related to their own lives!. How they lack political sense! This absence of political consciousness on the part of the younger people and the masses in general has brought the ascendency of such despcable fellows as the parasitic politicians and those unprincipled men who are unable to do anything but raise money. We are in an age when labor is highly esteemed. We are living in a world where the workers themselves take over the reins of government for the benefit of the Nation.

The new directive informs the ignorant people which candidates should not be elected and which leaders' actions have been detrimental to the progress of national life. The Nation should be better informed after receiving such an important directive for their political revolution.

Mr. George JONES, TOKYO correspondent of the NEW YORK Times, complained that most of the adult Japanese would die without knowing the real meaning of democracy. He further pointed out that the only way to arouse the political consciousness of the people was to make them establish organizations through wich they can strongly insist on and successfully realize their intentions.

Mr. JONES' complaints are no exaggeration. We must organize ourselves in order to enhance and broadern our political perspectives. However, we should not be contemptuous of or ignore the established national structures, though we are tempted to hate the structures themselves which had so long been exploited by to old ruling classes. We should make use of these structures for the establishment of popular government by restoring them to the hands of the people. At the same time we should do our best to have our own organizations through which we can train ourselves political, gain self-confidence, and discard political antipathies. That is the shortest way for the Japanese Nation to emerge from current abysmal conditions.

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