Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0012, 1945-11-16.

Full translation:

According to a radio from AUSTRALIA dated the 7th, the Far Eastern Advisory Council held its second discussion at WASHINGTON on the sixth. Major General McCLOY, American representative, was chosen chairman, while Nelson JOHNSON was selected Chief of general affairs. The report states that all the directives issued by the Supreme Commander, General MacARTHUR since the occupation of JAPAN were submitted to all the delegates. According to a radio from SAN FRANCISCO dated the 8th, a third discussion was held on the 7th at which Chairman McCLOY reported as follows: General MacARTHUR is much interested in the progress of the trial of JAPAN'S war criminals, 2,000 of whom have already been arrested in JAPAN. The General feels certain that the Emperor of JAPAN is earnestly co-operating with the Allied forces. American Lieutenant General SILDSRLING then remarked, "I hope JAPAN is co-operating with the Allied forces mere faithfully than she had once co-operated with GERMANY."

The next conference will be held at WASHINGTON on the 11th, without representatives of the SOVIET UNION.

Full translation:

On the recommendation of the PHILIPPINE Government, Major General BACARIO BARUJES, present Chief-of-Staff of the PHILIPPINE Army, was appointed by General MacARTHUR as law member of the tribunal in [illegible]rial of Lieutenant General HOMMA, who is called the Beast of BASAAN. The Major General served during the fighting at BATAN[illegible]under General MacARTHUR and went to AUSTRALIA with the late President QUEZON.

Brigadier General Rafael JARONDE was designated Acting Chief-of-Staff until formal appointment.

Summary:

Mr. MURUBUSE: Some people appear to be mixing up the question war responsibility and war crimes. War criminals are those who

POLITICAL SERIES: 12 (Continued)

ITEM 3 (Continued)

violated international law, such as, by the attack on PEARL HARBOR before the. declaration of war, maltreatment of prisoners of war and the sinking of the PANAY. But what we must find are those who are responsible for the war. The prosecution must be carried out by the Japanese themselves, not by the Allies. Those responsible are the ones who drove the people into war, not the people who were driven. The members of the Diet, whether they are professionals or amateurs, cannot get away from the responsibility on the plea that they did not lead the people to war, since they are fully empowered to reject or approve all acts of government. In my opinion the responsibility must be traced as far back as the Manchurian Incident, because it was at that time that the movement by the militarists for the seizure of internal control and external imperialism started. This plot germinated the Chinese Incident and from the latter we muddled into the recent war.

Mr. IWABUCHI: Personally I think we ought to go back further to the time of the Earthquake of 1923 when a rightist movement professing anti-communism started. Unless we go into this matter we cannot understand why CHANG TSO LING was killed by a bomb and why the Manchurian Incident occurred.

Mr. MATSUMOTO: Only men of clean records are entitled to point out those responsible for war. Among the personnel of the political parties recently formed there are some dubious ones. For instance A is said to have amassed millions in conspiracy with the Navy, after setting up a certain organization in FUKUOKA.

Mr. SUZUKI: It is funny that he is considered a proletarian.

Mr. TOKUGAWA: For example, Prince KONOE is said to have been against the war and yet he handed over the Premiership in August 1941 to TOJO who was for the war. This made him responsible for the war: nevertheless he is trying to make his debut as a party politician.

Mr. CHO: They think communism dangerous, but if the present situation is allowed to take its own course crisis beyond our imagination is bound to come. Take the example of the Russian revolution after the World war I. About the time of the February Revolution many people were inclined toward a constitution. Monaro[illegible],.as that WATICOFF went to the [illegible]to abdicate in favor of the Crown Prince, but the fear nominated Grand Luke MICHAEL as his successor. The Grand Duke, however, did not accept it because such procedure was not provided for in the Constitution and requested the question be left until the Constitution could be revised accordingly. The Russian people thought that the matter would, be settled in that way. The situation was just about the same as in JAPAN where at the crisis of the revision of the Constitution, people are discussing what to do with the imperial system. In the meantime, however, the Russian nation began to fear that the puppet ROMANOFFS would be used by the reactionaries and the final result was the sad fate the ROMANOFFS met in SIBERIA. It seems to me necessary for our Emperor not to remain as he is, surrounded by

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the militarists, government officials, peers or ZAIBATSU. He should well weigh the various factors and try to step forward to cope with the prevailing situation. Otherwise the trend of affairs may drift to an unprecedented impass. There are two ways to overcome the crisis, one is, in consideration of his responsibility, to discard all restraints and grapple with the present fix with the whole nation; the other is, in case there is no such possibility or he has no such self-confidence, that he prepare himself to throw away all he has and confront the situation.

Mr. ONO: His Majesty is as much interested in biology as Mr. TOKUGAWA. According to biology both monarchism and imperialism are only phases in the course of evolution, subject to change in due time. One should make up one's mind without awaiting realization of the communists' slogan.

Mr. SHIGA: We must first of all put our democracy into shape and unless and until we have systematized power we cannot properly deal with war criminals and those responsible for the war. Anyway if things go on as they are now, we are doomed to face a food crisis next winter or spring and riots will break out all over the country. We cannot of course remain aloof, we must give the people order and a government under which they can live in dignity. Seen from our point of view, those who accelerated the war have trampled on our basic rights and we should start the movement to give such people proper judgement and not leave them entirely to the care of the Allied Headquarters. The movement must be systematized and once we have succeeded in it, the way will be clear for us to deal with these who have infringed upon human rights.

Mr. IWABUCHI: I think the revision of the Consitution is quite opportune in any case. I interpret Prince KONOE's attempt to relinquish the peerage in the light of a natural forerunner in the revision. Various problems are bound to crop up on this occasion but the present is a good time for a. new Constitution, not a revision of the old with JAPAN'S democratic revolution as an ultimate aim.

Full translation:

The present food problem was discussed at the conference of administrative officials on 3 November, continuing the previous day's discussions. It was declared that reform of the existing independent administrative bureau system is necessary to solve the present food crisis. A simple, strong food administrative organ in the Cabinet was recommended, and a unified food administration was proposed to the government.

The administrative officials of various departments all assailed the independent bureau system and urged the unified total handling of the food problem by the government.

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Summary:

The People's (MINHON) Party will organize on 16 November about two hundred and fifty members of the NIPPON SEIJIKAI group.

A movement to form a new party through the merging of the former JAPAN Political Party (NISSEI) group, was initiated by Mr. SHIMADA, President of the Lower House, and Mr. MACHIDA, Chuji. A complete agreement was reached between the leaders of the Research Association for the Construction of New JAPAN (SHIN NIPPON KSNSETSU CEOSA[illegible]KAI) and the representatives of the MACHIDA-NAKAJIMA group and as a result, the formation of a new party has been decided upon. 150 leaders of the organizing committee for the new party have sent- invitations to about 1,000 former members of the Diet for the inaugural ceremony which will be held at MARUNOUCHI Hall in the MARUHOUCHI Building, at 1400, 16 November 1945.

The name, objectives, platform, program, policy, etc, will be taken up at the preparatory committee meeting. However, the party has been informally named "MINHON". It was decided that the president should not be appointed immediately, but that the committee system in place of a president will be in effect for some time.

The MINHON Party is the result of the merger of the former SEIYUKAI and MINSEIKAI rather than of the former DAI NIPPON SEIJI KAI, and the former group of KUBARA, OKADA, Tadahiko, TSUGUMO, Kunihiko, YORIMITSU, Yoshiaki, etc. However, the majority of the former YOKUSO members except MIURA, Kazuo, of the former Nation Defender Party (GOKOKU DOSHI[illegible]KAI), the former group of the SEISHIN party, are not expected to join this party.

Therefore, the party will have 230 or 240 members in the long run, and at present, it is certain that this party is an overwhelmingly powerful party, as compared with the JAPAN Socialist Party which has 15 members and the JAPAN Liberal Party which has 50 members. The leaders of this party are as follows: - AINO, Tokiichiro; AOYAMA, Kenzo; ARAI; Gyoji; AKOJIMA, Shunji; ITO, Goro; IZU, Tomito; IZAKA, Toyomitsu IZUMI, Kunioaboru; IKEDA, Hideo; ICHINOMIYA, Fusabure; IMAI, TajChiko; IMAO, Noboru; IMANARI, Tomenosuke; ISHIZAKA, Yohei; INUKAI, Ken; IKARASHI, Kichizo; UEDA, Kokichi; UEMATSU, Tomaro; UEMURA, Buichi; UMAOKA, Jiro; UCHIGASAKI, Kusaburo; UCHIIK, Hisaburo; KODAKA, Chuzaburo; OYAMADA, Yoshituka; OYAMA, Kuranosuke; OKAWA, Mitsuzo; OTSUKI, Shinji; OTA, Masataka; OKADA, Keijiro; OKAMOTO, Umajiro OKI, Kura; NAGACHI, Tateei; KAWASAKI, Katsu KAWASAKI, Kinetaro KAWASAKI, Suegoro; KAWAZOE, Takashi; KATO, Ryogoro; KATO, Tomomasa; KATO, Sohei; KATSUMATA, Shuaichi; KATSUTA, Nagakichi; KANAI, Masao; KATAYAMA, Kazuo; KANNA, Norikazu; KIYOSE, Ichiro; SEI, Kan; KISHIDA, Masaki; KINOSHITA, Shin; KINOSHITA, Gisuke; KITA, Soichiro; HISAYAMA, Tomoyuki; KUBOI, Yoshimichi; KUROSAWA, Torizo; KOIZUMI, Junya; KODAIRA, Gonichi; OYAMA, Matsuhisa; OYAMA, Kunitaro; OYAMA, Tanizo; KOYANAGI, Makiei; KOBAYASHI, Tetsutaro, KOBAYASHI, Kinuharu; KOZAKA, Takeo; KOGURE, Takedayu; KORO, Akira; SAKUMA, Wataru;

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ITEM 5 (Continued)

SATO, Yonosuke; SATO, Yoshio; SAITO, Takao; SAKAI, Toshio; SAKAMOTO, Ikku; SAKASHITA, Senichiro; SAKUDA, Kotaro; SAKIYAMA, Tsugutomo; SHIMIZU, Tomesaburo; SHINOHARA, Rikuro; SOKI, Juki; SOEDA, Keiichiro; TAGO, Kazutami; TANABE, Tadao; TABE, Shichiroku; TAMURA, Hideyoshi; TAKADA, Kokei; TAKAHASEI, Morihei; TAKAMI, Koremichi; TAKECHI, Yuki; TSURU, Soichi; TSURUMI, Yusuke; TSUTSUMI, Kojiro; TESHIROGI, Ryukichi; TERADA, Ichimasa; TOGO, Minoru; TOYAMA, Teruo; TOYODA, Osamu; NOKAIGAWA, Ko; NAKAGAWA, Shigeharu; NAKAMURA, Umekichi; NAKAMURA, Sannojo; NAKAMURA, Yoichiro; NAKAJIMA, Yadanji; NAGANO, Koichi; NAGAI, Gen; NAGATA, Ryokichi; NANUN, Shosaku; NANIO, Tokuo; NARUSHIMA, Isamu; NISHIKATA, Toshima; NODA, Takeo; NODA, Seisho; HANEDA, Takeshire; HAMANO, Tetsutaro; HAMANO, Seigo; HAMACHI, Bunhei; HARA, Ikujiro; HIGUCHI, Zunemon; ICHIMATSU, Sadakichi; FUJIMOTO, Sutesuke; FUKASAWA, Kichihei; YASUTOSHI, Shigeru; HOSHI, Hajime; HORICHI, Kazuo; MATSUURA, Shutaro; MATSUO, Sanzo; MATSUKATA, Kojiro; MATSUDA, Takechiyo; MATSUDA, Shoichi; MATSUNAGA, To; MATSUMURA, Kozo; MATSUMOTO, Tadao; MASUDA, Giichi; MANABE, Giju; MAEDA, Fusanosuke; MIURA, Kazuo; MIYAZAKI, Hajime; MIYASAWA, Hiroshi; MURAKAMI, Kunikichi; MORI, Hajime; MORITA, Jujiro; MORISHITA, Kunio; MORIYA, Eifu; MOGAMI, Seizo; YASUMI, Saburo; YANAMI, Takeji; YAMADA, Rokuro; YAMADA, Tunsaku; YAMAMOTO, kozo; YAMAMOTO, Kumekichi; YAMAKOTO, Yoshiharu; YAMAGUCHI, Chuzoro; YOSHITANI, Yoshiharu; YOKOGAWA, Juji; YOSHIGAWA, Daisuke; YOSHIUE, Shoryo; and WATANABE, Ken.

Full translation:

The government has decided to submit to the Emperor a request that an Extraordinary Session of the Diet be convened on 1 December 1945. If granted, the session is expected to last at least until the 15th, depending on the length of time consumed in discussing the revision of election laws.

After the session, the government will ask the Emperor to dissolve the House of Representatives and call a general election to be held in the middle of January, next year. The regular session of the Diet would normally be held on the 24th of December according to the constitution, but a Diet session at that time would be impossible if the House of Representatives is to be dissolved. It is thought by some that convocation of an extraordinary session is unconstitutional since the constitution directs the Diet be convened once a year. However, the constitution will not be violated if an Imperial Rescript is issued. This is necessary since it is intended to dissolve the Diet in December after the presentation of the election law revision bill.

Full translation:

At the public trial of General YAMASHITA, on 7 November I945, the

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ITEM 7 (Continued)

following facts were testifier to by HATEDOPU, the editor in chief of a Philippine magazine and one of the survivors of the butchery incident at SANTO TOMAS University.

Six war prisoners were condemned to death simply for a very minor infraction of the camp rules.

After General YAMASHITA arrived in the PHILIPPINES, the meals in the camp were reduced to twice a day at a starvation level. As a result, many deaths from starvation occurred.

On this occasion the Japanese commander was said to have declared that as JAPAN did not recognize the GENEVA Convention he could not listen to the representative's appeal, and that the camp was being operated under direct orders from TOKYO.

Full translation:

WASHINGTON, ( A P ), 8 November. - The Assistant Secretary of War McCLOY, announced the intentions of General MacARTHUR, concerning Japanese war-criminals, to the War Crimes Commission in WASHINGTON as follows: General MacARTHUR has stated that he intends to open the trials of Japanese criminals as soon as possible. The international court for the trials of the top war-criminals will be set up in the future. First of all, General MacARTHUR will soon open the trials of 1,500 or 2,000 suspected war-criminals who have already been arrested.

Full translation:

Militaristic Fascism: Looking at the miserable reality of JAPAN'S defeat, we are filled with deep emotion. To observers within JAPAN, the events which have occurred during the past ten years have been nothing more than the outcome of plotting and intrigue carried on by those who have been an given an unwarranted amount of power. Had the GENRO and JUSHIN been able to perceive JAPAN'S future and to grasp the significance of causes and events in her history, the country would not have been plunged into such misery. But spurred on by the love of power, far from fulfilling their true duties as advisors of the Emperor, they disregarded their responsibility to the nation, erred in their judgment, and finally led the nation to its collapse. Of course, those who played the principal parts in this consisted of elements of the Army, bureaucrats , financial men, and some journalists; but it is an undisguisable fact that the JUSHIN's blindness and self-seeking avarice accelerated the disaster all the more.

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ITEM 9 (Continued)

In going through the history of our collapse, the most important points to be cited are the extraordinary dismissal of General MASAKI from the position of Inspector-General of Military Education on 15 July 1935 and the counter-revision of organization carried out by Minister of War TERAUCHI of the HIROTA Cabinet soon after the occurrence of the 26 February Incident in which Generals or Admirals on active service only were made eligible to hold the portfolios of War and Navy Ministers, Although the military dictatorship and the Greater East Asia war are directly responsible for the collapse, we should not overlook the fact that the events cited above opened the way for the militaristic dictatorship by giving it a legal basis. That is, the extraordinary change in the position of Inspector-General of Military Education is noteworthy in that it made possible the Minister's dictatorship as head of the Army and also the counter-revision which allowed only active service men to hold the positions of Ministers of the War and Navy, These changes had a very significant meaning.

At present, a vigorous discussion is going on regarding the disposal of war criminals. When the HIDEHARA cabinet was formed, a declaration was made by Mr. TSUGITA, the President of the Board of Legislation, stating that the Ministry would be composed of men who have not held, in the past ten years, positions of war responsibility. How ironic it is that the very man who voiced this declaration should have been the very one who opened the way for the militaristic dictatorship while serving in the same position in the HIROTA Cabinet. It is said that he boasts about this among his friends. Strong opposition, headed by the late MOTODA, Hajime and FUJISAWA, Ikunosuke, had been evinced by a minority of the Privy Council against the counter-revision, However TSUGITA prevailed upon the two councillors for their approva1 by explaining that the bill was for preventing the return of General MASAKI and ARAKI to power. This was spoken of by Mr. TSUGITA personally at that time. Therefore, although he may not be one of those directly responsible for the war, his responsibility in furnishing a legal basis for military dictatorship is undeniable. The reason for General MASAKI's change being regarded with such importance is that it not only revealed the Army's internal strife, but also contained revolutionary significance. In its background was hidden a program of militaristic dictatorship called the Staff- Fascism and in order to analyse this we must go back to the March and October incidents, which wert held secret at the time of their occurrence. As it is not our object here to take up minutely the details of these matters, only a rough outline will be given.

In going through a secret publication entitled "Outline of National Reconstruction Centered Upon Young Officers," we find the following passage under the section "Outline of the March Incident";

"Perceiving in General UGAKI, War Minister in the HAMAGUCKI Cabinet, a passion for political power, KITA, Kijiro, SHIMIZU, Gyonosuke, OKAWA, Shumei, and others planned a coup-d'etat with the General as the central figure and pressed him to adopt the plan The General, impressed by the idea, determined to carry out the coupd'etat and began a secret planning campaign. He also contacted the Rightist Proletarists (MUSANTO) and through certain army officers

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on active service, obtained bombs tear gas and explosives of various types which he handed over to SHIMIZU and OKAUA. His plan was to surround the Diet, then in its 58th session, and carry out his project. While awaiting his chance, the Premier, HAMAGUCHI, was shot and critically wounded by SAGOYA Tomeo. Because of this event political conditions suddenly became unstable, and in the MINSEITO Party two factions came to the fore, one supporting Mr, ADACHI and the other General UGAKI as Mr. HAMAGUCHI's successor. The internal condition of the MINSEITO made the UGAKI faction more powerful and having gained confidence of victory within the party, and fulfillment of his long cherished ambition, the General determined to force KITA, OKAWA, and SHIMIZU to abandon the coup d'etat. And, as the result of an earlier understanding with the General, these men, without a word of criticism of the former's sudden change in attitude, betrayed their friends and gave up their plans, The General had KITA, Kijiro plan the coup d'- etat and he, utilizing his own position as War Minister, planned a mobilization of the Army for the purpose of carrying out the coup d'etat. Furthermore, KITA made preparations for carrying out the so called Imperial Ensign Revolution of the October incident on a comparatively large scale."

Some points in this statement, however, differ from Major TANAKA'S memorandum which was connected with this case. As leaders of the March incident, the names of UGAKI Kazunari, NINOMIYA Harushige, KOISO Kuniteru, TATEKAWA Yoshitsugu, SHIGEFUJI Chiaki, HASHIMOTO Kingoro, TANAKA Kiyoshi, OKAWA Shumei, SHIMIZU Gyonosuke were mentioned by MURANAKA Koji while he was in prison in connection with February 26 incident. Furthermore, according to the statement of prosecution, CHO, Isamu (then lieutenant colonel), TANAKA, Gunkichi (then lieut.), TAWAKA, Ya (then captain), TSUTSUI, Masao (then lieut. general - Acting Director of the Infantry School) were named as having been connected with the March incident, and Gen, UMEZU, Chief of the General Affairs Department of the General Staff, and General NAGATA, Tetsuzan were named as participaters.

Next, in regard to the October incident, an outline of "The Opinion on Reforming Army," signed by MURANAKA, Koji and ISOEE, Asaichi, is given as follows:

The 1931 October incident was projected by the persons who took part in the March incident and an extremist section of SAKURAKAI, making Lieut.-Generals TATEKAWA and KOISO responsible for its planning and Major-General NAGATA, Tetsuzan, Major TANAKA, Kiyoshi, and Major IKEDA, Sumihisa as collaborators. And instead of employing "RONIN" or "SOSHI" from outside the Army, an attempt was made to obtain the services of some young officers whose feelings were high over -the Manchurian question. The following statement is typical of the general attitude among the young officers: "We had little idea of the real object of the plot. Being indignant with general conditions and anxious to serve in correcting them, we often held meetings. We were frequently invited to 'Machiai' and restaurants where we had to listen to the bragging of staff officers (Note: Captain SUGANAMI of HQ, of SHINKYO Garrison is supposed to Know in detail the names of all the 'Maichiai' and restaurants.) or were made to sign paper of allegiance and seal them with blood, While wasting our time this way we listened to such utterances as 'The funds for drinking are paid by the Army. The Army will never find it difficult to pay such a

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pittance,' 'The rewards for your services are now under our consideration, ' and 'The ammunition is to be brought up by Colonel SASAKI of TOYOHASHI immediately before the incident,' which we thought quite extraordinary. Finally they began to talk of a draft of an Imperial edict having been prepared by OKAWA, Shumei, and the desire to carry out the plans at any cost. Some of the young officers, indignant at the behavior of staff officers told them, 'After the execution of this plan we are thinking of apologizing by committing 'harakiri' in front of the NIJUBASHI What will you leaders do?' to which they replied, 'We do not care for 'harakiri.' In this way a feeling of extreme doubt and distrust toward the leaders sprang up among the officers, and finally, fearing the worst, some of the leaders secretly informed higher ups, and as a result ostensibly in the form of suppression, the leaders were taken from a 'machiai' called KINSUI at TSUKIJI for protective confinement on the night of l6 October, Consequently the plot was ended before being carried out, We tried to participate in the October incident but owing to the above stated circumstances have had to scatter out. From that time on the group of the young officers who were intently interested in the reconstruction of the nation has roughly divided itself into two groups, and slander and oppression began to be thrown upon the young officers, A political change took place in December, and upon General ARAKI 's taking up the portfolio of Minister of war, the leaders who more connected with the above two incidents were transferred from Japan to Manchuria and China,"

From the above statement a rough idea can be formed of the incidents. According to "MUMEIROKU" (anonimous descriptions) said to have been written by Mr. ISQBE, Asaichi while in jail, HAYASHI, Senjuro, SHIMOYAMA, Takuma, IKEBA, Sumihisa, TANAKA, Shinichi, MUTO, and AKIYA are named as central figures in the October incident.

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