Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0242, 1946-01-14.
Date14 January, 1946
translation numbereditorial-0758
call numberDS801 .S82
Persistent Identifier
EDITORIAL SERIES: 242
ITEM 1 Reflection of the Trial - Asahi Shimbun - 12 Jan 46. Translator: K. Sato.
Full Translation:
I felt sorry to read the news that TSUCHIYA was sentenced to penal servitude for
life. The principle of Japanese military
training was to moult soldiers in one and the same type and to sqeeze in by force
those who protruded from the moult. Needless
to say they ignored individual personality. The surest policy for the soldiers was
to act exactly upon orders of their
superiors and positive action proved to be desadvantageous. In this way, they were
made uncivilized and barbarous. I often
hear people say that they cannot help envying the brightness andunrestrained manner
of the American soldiers, cornpaired with
that of the Japanese Army in the past. However, when we further presume that if the
Japanese Army had admitted individual
personality and freedom as in AMERICA, there would be no knowing what might happen.
This proves how low the state of Japanese
civilization is.
Liberalism is fine. Neverthless take care, for if you should give rights to people
with such low-standards they would abuse
them. Before we claim rights, we Japanese must, first of all, cultivate and improve
ourselves still more.
(Letter from SUZUKI, Juichi of NAGANO unemployed.)
I was indefinably moved in reading an article reporting the life sentence given to
TSUCHIYA. During the war, with the aim of
destroying the United States and BRITAIN, the atrocities and tyranny of the American
soldiers were propagandized, and our
feeling of hostility was stirred to the utmost. Only because he, unfortunately was
in service in the prisoners' camp, he must
share his fortune with the defeat in war and come to such a miserable end.
I imagine his haggard figure. In a dark prison, a crowd of emotions should be wakened
in his breast, thinking of his parents,
recalling wife and children. I demand the responsibility of the war leaders in JAPAN
be exposed.
(TOKYO HASEGAWA, Masako, a war sufferer)
Be the results of .justice concerning TSUCHIYA's case what they may, what do those
who have experienced Japanese military life
think? I, myself was in the military for two years. Never a day passed without having
them oppress the soldiers by means of
force and violence. Innumerable kinds of violence were wielded in their system in
the strangest ways.
For instance there were the military spirit infusing clubs, "the jaw", the electric
bath, "the bicycle", mutual slapping etc.
How many Japanese officers, without the smallest sting of conscience, deliberately
inflicted atrocities upon the Japanese
soldiers in TSUCHIYA's manner? If they were placed in TSUCHIYA's situation, how many
of them could swear that they had never
exercised brutal force. The point
EDITORIAL SERIES: 242 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
is that what was long justified among them proved to be a capital crime according
to the point of view of human judgment. They
ought to be horrified at the reality and regain their forgotten consciences.
(RIKO, Matsuo, TOKYO - demobilized serviceman)
ITEM 2 Reorganization of the SHIDEHARA Cabinet - Yomiuri-Hochi - 13 Jan 46. Translator: D. E. Brazell.
Full Translation:
Self-confidence and tenacity are indispensable conditions in accomplishing a task
for a politician as well as an ordinary man.
In this sense, Prime Minister SHIDEEARA is truly a politician.
However, since his cabinet received the sweeping directives of MacAPTHUR on 4 January,
he has been ill for eight days; on the
other hand his cabinet ministers have also idled away their time. And now they have
decided to tide ever the situation by the
reorganization of the cabinet, against public opinion which demands their resignation
en bloc. It may safely be said that
Prime Minister SHIDEHARA is an excellent showman, as far as brazeness goes, but he
is behind the times. When he was appointed
ambassador plenipotentiary to a former Washington conference, he attended the conference
notwithstanding his fever, paying no
heed to his doctor's advice. He had occupied the post of Foreign Minister five times
in the KATO, WAKATSUKI and HAMAGUCHI
cabinets. And he had not joined any political parties, against an unwritten law at
that time that a cabinet minister should be
a party man. Consequently, he was thought by his supporters as well as the opposition
as a traitor to constitutionalism. But
he has taken it to heart. The proceedings in the 59th session of the Diet were brought
to a standstill for ten days by his
slip of the tongue concerning the problem of ratification of the LONDON Treaty. However,
he was so tenacious that he tided
ever the situation at the last moment by cancelling his slip.
Now, we have no means of knowing where his resolution to tide over the present difficulty
by the reorganization of his cabinet
has come from. But his self-confidence, which is against public opinion, is remarkable.
On the other hand, judging from his
nature and career, it cannot be denied that his way of thinking is due to bureaucratic
self-satisfaction, and that he has
foregotten the existence of public opinion by standing aloof from the people. An admirable
example is that SHIDEHARA attended
the conference notwithstanding his fever. His confidence, which persisted to the end
based or the infallibility of his own
diplomacy, hit the eye.
However if he has thought that his self-confidence and tenacity in the past can now
be applied to the interests of the
defeated nation, he may also lose a boat like a boatman who forgets to steer his boat
in obedience to the ebb and flow of the
tide.
ITEM 3 (A) An Interrupter of Speech (B) Instantly Abolish Our Neighborhood Units System - Yomiuri-Hochi Shimbun - 13 Jan 46. Translator: I. Kuniko.
Full Translation:
Some days ago, when a dialogue debate was held by several political parties, Mr.
SHIGA, Yoshio, argued about the Emperor
system. His speech was interrupted by catcalls and roars. There was one conspicuous
man among the audience who disturbed him.
He carried a stick, and
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 242 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
possessing a little eminence, he seemed a leader of the mob. Moreover, he cried repeatedly,
"I am YASUDA, Takeo, of the JAPAN
Democratic Party. Anyone may argue with me!" He well acted his part of disturber.
One evening in January, I stood at a street stall in front of the UENO Station to
buy sardines. Under a cold sky, two women
who looked to be mother and daughter, were calling out their wares to pedestreans.
I could judge from their attitudes that
they were very destitute and were forced to become street-traders. A man came by and
pressed them, "Give me your admission
money. It's five yen." The daughter replied, "We paid it about three o'clock." So
thrusting out his lantern, he said
defiantly, "You must pay it again for the period from six O'clock to the same time
tomorrow morning." The man got the money
and moved on to the next stall. The sign, "Cherry Party", was written on his lantern.
Judging from the nember of street
stalls, the party's illicit income must amount to several thousand yen a day. Such
feudalistic extortion and plunder are still
going on openly. The police authorities, it is said are overlooking it.
The Cherry Party, as Mr. KAZAHAYA, Yasoji, disclosed in this paper, is very closely
bound to the JAPAN Democratic Party. This
Party's finance is based upon feudalistic and open plunder of the street stalls, and
is the backing for such JAPAN Democratic
Party's bosses as YASUDA, Takeo, SHIRAISHI, Kiyoshi and others.
Now, in connection with the Supreme Headquarters' directives, we must thoroughly
wipe out such disguised democrats, or our
democratic revolution will shortly face a great crisis.
(NAKAMURA, Shintaro)
Our neighborhood association system derives from a five-person unit system of feudal
times. That is, in the days of feudalism,
TOKUGAWA founded the system to support his own ruling position. The present system
in effect from the CHINA Affairs to the end
of this war a supervising organization for watching or checking the Nation's anti-war
thought. It was a structure used as a
means for leading our Nation into the war, and was very annoying to us. The war ended.
Accordingly, such a system that had
bothered the Nation should be dispelled as quickly as possible. There are leaders
or officers of the neighborhood associations
who cannot understand what democracy is or what freedom of speech is. Furthermore,
there are, among them, egotistic and
worthless persons who usurped goods or charcoal or cut down the trees in war-damaged
dress, or are making a fortune, if their
houses were not damaged by air raids, by concealing a large quantity of charcoal in
defiance of the acute shortage of
fuels.
The system should repidly be abolished. Our Nation had been persuaded by the Government
to forgo all difficulties till the day
of victory, and we perseveringly did our duty. The system is convenient to only the
Government and the merchants, and is very
bothersome to the general public. Being chained to the system, we are very uncomfortable
mentally and economically, and,
moreover, when any goods are distributed, we have to waste much time at neighbor-hood
stores. Our feelings con but be
irritated.
Now we have enough labor, because there are a large number of demobilized servicemen
who are unemployed. Therefore, the
neighborhood distributive stores must increase workers to realize a delivery system
as quickly as possible. The housekeepers'
bothersome labor
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 242 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
must be relieved. The war ended. JAPAN is now approaching the sunny side of spring,
for a literal society is going to appear.
Our Nation must correct our national defects by public opinion in order to establish
a new JAPAN. We should not drop behind
the world's civilization. Accordingly, we cry here, "Instantly abolish our neighborhood
association system."
(HIRABAYASHI, Tamigoro)
ITEM 4 An Alarmingly Reckless Proposal About the Imperial Railways - Nippon Sangyo Keizai - 13 Jan 46. Translator: M. Kato.
Full Translation:
The National Railways are planning to increase railway fares from March by two and
a half times for passengers and by three
times for freight. The reasons given for this are manifold, such as the reconstruction
and promotion of various
establishments, the increase of transportation capacity, and an improvement in the
treatment of the employees. This is
obviously based on misconceptions, when one considers the present situation.
Railway fares necessarily have a direct and serious bearing on every sphere of national
economy, and its change produces a
direct effect on production costs. Such a project is to be allowed only after prudent
deliberation. At any rate an increase by
twice or three times should by no means be pardonable.
Some people may think that in view of general high prices, railway fares cannot be
an exception. To be sure, such articles as
we need once or twice in our life will, by an increase in prices, produce little or
no effect upon the consumers' economy,
much less on the national economy. Railways, in contrast, are of vital significance
to every economic activity. Smoking or
drinking has no vital bearing on our subsistence, although there are some people who
complain of the change in their prices.
We can do without these luxuries if there be an increase in prices. According to circumstances,
therefore, boost in prices can
be attempted on such luxuries. In this respect, the Government is incomprehensiblly
timid. It is wondered why the general
public is likewise more concerned about this problem than about that of the railways.
We need not dwell upon the vital
importance of public conveyances. To prove this fact, an incident can be mentioned
regarding in TOKYO Municipal street car
affairs some 40 years ago. Communists at that time, as a means of opposing the boost
in fares, attempted to lead the people at
large in a boycott against riding in streetcars. This resulted in utter failure because
of the vital importance of public
conveyances.
Few people who have special business can afford to walk, and even the average person
cannot do without them. Otherwise, waste
of energy, which leads to a great loss involving the whole ration, would be enevitable.
Thus, because of the singular
character of railways, increased charges cannot be imposed upon the general public.
On this account, a casual decision made by
the railway authorities upon such an important matter shows their inconsistency and
low standard in economic ideas. From now
on such important affairs should be decided on with the approval of the Diet. Such
things should also be decided upon
conditionally, and should revert to the former rates when economic stabilization is
realized.
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