Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0021, 1945-11-25.
Date25 November, 1945
translation numberpolitical-0090
call numberDS801 .S85
Persistent Identifier
POLITICAL SERIES: 21
ITEM 1 The inside history of "Gumbatsu" or the militarist party, succession of deceptions and intrigues - Asahi Shimbun - 15 Nov 45.
Full Translation:
Continuous Deceptions and Intrigues of the Military Clique disclosed by General KASAKI.
SAGA Dispatch.
Since the termination of war, the true character of the military clique full of deception
and intrigue has been gradually
disclosed to the public. And now at last we have come to know directly the inside
story of the Army, which began with the
so-called "March Incident" and ended with the Great EAST ASIA War, from the former
Inspector-general [illegible]of Military Education. Hitherto NASAKI has been regarded generally as an agitator
in the Army, and
according to the inside story, he was one of the men who were considered "intriguers"
by the military clique. During a recent
visit to SAGA, [illegible]ASAKI, in an unusually forceful manner for a 70 year old man, made the following
speech:
"The divine tempest is blowing just now and when the military clique is swept away
completely by this divine tempest, a new
JAPAN will be born."
"The so-called 'March Incident' in 1931 was a coup d'etat conducted by the military
chiefs, KOISO, TATEKAWA, NINOMIYA,
SUGIYAMA, NAGATN (NAGATA made the plans), and ŌKAWA, Syumei, and aimed at the seizure
of political power and the installation
of UGAKI, at that time Army Minister, as Premier. But before this plan was executed,
Marquis TOKUGAWA, Yoshichika persuaded
ŌKAWA to abandon his plan and notified NAGATA, who was at that time chief of the Military
Affaris Section, that I could not
agree to dispatch soldiers for a coup d'etat even though General UGAKI had agreed.
Therefore the Scheme failed. The military
chiefs who were the plotters were placed in an embarrassing position, but so far have
gone unpunished for their misdeeds. And
this is the very thing that corrupted the Army."
"The 'October Incident' of the same year was conducted along the same line, but this
time the persons involved were field
officers instead of general officers. The leader of the 'incident' was HASHIMOTO,
Kingoro, and this time the conspirators
decided to set up ministers
POLITICAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
to their own liking. However, while they were consulting at KINSUI in KYOBASHI, ARAKI
came in and pleaded all night against
the plot. And once more the scheme failed to materialize."
"Ex-Foreign Minister MATSUOKA was the first man to say that NANCHURIA is our life
and if JAPAN does not control MANCHURIA, our
national defense will lose its meaning. Such was the general opinion in those days
about the Manchurian Incident. But the
fundamental opinion was that as long as we Japanese did not solve the problem of population,
we would not be able to survive
in the future.
"In these days, even clerks of the, Manchurian Railway Company became incensed and
boasted that if the Army did not take up
arms, they would take matters into their own hands. MANCHURIA was considered in those
days an essential part of the national
defense and our nation now knows that the Manchurian Incident began from the explosion
incident of RYUJOKO.
"That incident was due to a Japanese plot, and I am not in favor of the use of such
underhanded methods. At that time, we
should, have appealed bravely to the justice of the world. When the incident broke
out, I stayed in FORMOSA and as soon as I
returned to TOKYO as Deputy-chief of the General Staff, I suppressed the spreading
war fever and halted the drive of our
forces in MANCHURIA at the line of the Great Wall of CHINA.
"The 26 February Incident was also a great force in which military fascists aimed
at sweeping away their opponents by making
use of the revolution-inclined young officers. I was greatly distressed at the time
because they planned to lure me into the
scheme in an attempt to benefit by my popularity with the young officers. I did not
realize my popularity among them, and
submitted five items to military judiciaries to be thoroughly investigated. I also
made it clear that I had no connection with
the incident.
The five items were as follows:
- 1.Why did elder statesmen such as Prince SATONJI anticipate the incident?
- 2.The aim and scope of the Incident were the same as those or the October Incident, so some of the participants must also have participated in the letter Incident.
- 3.The young officers had been misled by someone into believing that by this Incident, they would be able to save Lieutenant Colonel AIZAWA.
- 4.We were reported to have been made puppets of the conspirators when the Incident broke out. Such a report must have been prepared in advance by someone.
- 5.When I went to ISOBE, Asaichi, one of the leaders who was in the prison and talked with him, he said, "Sir, at last you have been caught in their trap." So I began to cross-examine him, but the Military Judge made him leave."
- 2 -
POLITICAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
"I now would like to give the causes of the CHINA Incident and the Great EAST ASIA
War. It is not because we've lost the war
that I say we were doomed to defeat. I had warned about the possibility of losing
this war many tines since the CHINA
Incident. The militarist party had tried to seize political power through the 26 February
Incident but their hopes were not
realized. AS a result of this failure dissatisfaction with the Army gradually increased,
so the Army tried to divert the
people's attention to events abroad in order to cover their own shortcomings. The
CHINA Incident was a great gamble, and the
Greater EAST ASIA War was an even greater one. A war in which the basic motive was
evil could not possibly have been won.
"The Navy opposed this war from the very beginning. For example, the late Fleet Admiral
YAMAMOTO used to say before the war
that JAPAN would be able to fight for a year at the longest. All remnants of co-operation
between the Army and Navy had
disappeared even then. And handicapped by lack of armaments and a disadvantageous
geographical position, our defeat was beyond
question.
"There are several reasons why we waged war against AMERICA and ENGLAND in the face
of such disadvantages. One was the desire
to fight the battle to the end rather than be ruined because of the foolish CHINA
Incident. Confidence in a military victory
by Germany inspired confidence in a military victory for JAPAN. There was also confidence
in the impossibility of AMERICA'S
fighting a long war. TOJO himself was confident of JAPAN' s victory and began the
war resolutely.
"When I was commander of the First Division, TOJO was commander of the First Regiment.
And when I was the Chief of Staff,
YAMASHITA took his office as Chief of the Bureau of Military Affairs in the War Ministry.
TOJO hated YAMASHITA in those days,
and also mistrusted me because of my association with YAMASHITA. Consequently he had
little to do with me."
ITEM 2 Campaign Limiting Items - Yomiuri Noohi - 15 Nov 45 Translator: K. Murakami
Full translation:
The government has decided on an outline of the revision of the election law and
is now preparing a statute. On 14 November,
the House of Representatives examined the revision from its own standpoint at the
Special Diet System Investigating Committee
and decided on two items. These items are the public management of elections, and
regulation of election campaigns, and are to
be offered to the Home Department as recommendations of the House of Representatives
when Home Minister HORIKIRI returns from
his trip to KANSAI.
The details of the public management of elections and limitations of election campaigns
are as follows: -
- 1.The issuance of the official reports of elections must be along the lines laid down by the Home Department, and the private distribution of papers by candidates for election is prohibited. - 3 -
- POLITICAL SERIES: 21 (Continued) ITEM: 2 (Continued)
- 2.Free mail is to be abolished and newspaper advertisements to be made available under public supervision.
- 3.Bills advertising speeches are limited to 5,000, and bills for other purposes are banned.
- 4.When advertising a speech, neighborhood associations may be utilized.
- 5.Signs and posters are banned, and names of all candidates are reported jointly at suitable places in cities, towns, and villages.
- 6.Radio is to be utilized under communications regulations.
- 7.
ITEM 3 The old NISSEI Faction to be christened "The Japan Progressive Party." Asahi-Shimbun - 15 Nov 45. Translator: H. Kato.
Summary:
The Progressive Party, tentatively the name given to the old Japan Political Association,
held a meeting preparatory to its
formal inauguration at headquarters in MISHI GINZA on 14 November, and decided to
publish the draft of the declaration of
principles of the party.
Many objected to the temporary name given the party. Other names suggested were:
The People's Party, The Constitutional
Democratic Party, and The JAPAN Democratic Party, but in the end The JAPAN Progressive
Party was accepted.
The declaration of principles is as follows:
Platform (Draft)
The Party will:
- 1.Protect the national policy and insure responsible democratic politics centering about a Parliament.
- 2.Respect individual freedom and strive for improvements on the basis of co-operative self-government working toward the maintenance of world peace and the promotion of prosperity and happiness of mankind.
- 3.Work independently and will strive to increase production by working for a new economy, thus securing the existence of all the nation.
Proclamation (Draft)
JAPAN is a defeated nation at a crucial period in her history. We are pledged to
accept our defeat with humility, and we are
further pledged to carry out the terms of the Potsdam Declaration faithfully; and
strive to overcome all obstacles blocking
the reconstruction of JAPAN.
- 4 -
POLITICAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
The responsibility for the defeat is on the militarists, the bureaucrats who acceded
to their wishes and abused their
authority, and the ZAIBATSU.
Political parties were too weak, and helpless to avert the catastrophe.
It is, of course, the nation's duty to protect our national existence. Especially
now, in the days when strange and violent
disturbances are taking place, we will firmly reject Communism for the great principles
of constitutional monarchy.
In order to practice democratic ideas and to meet the general wishes of the people,
the Imperial Constitution will be revised
by the people and the government in order to give a basis to all political movements.
We must reform our parliamentary system and other political institutions. Furthermore,
we must respect our freedom of speech,
assembly, association, religion and all fundamental human rights.
In order to carry out such a policy, reactionary dogma should be completely eliminated
by establishing education based on
individualism, public service, and rationalism.
As to the means for elevating standards of living, a new well-proportioned economic
system should be initiated to regulate
agriculture, industry and commerce.
The bureaucratic system should be rejected, national finance be strengthened, food
supply insured, and scientific technique
employed to promote production. Monopolies should be liquidated in order to elevate
the standard of living and insure
stability of national life.
For these reasons we have established the Progressive Party of JAPAN.
ITEM 4 Abolishment of the Office Related to Shinto Religion Mainichi Shimbun - 15 November 1945 Translator: S. Kawasaki.
Summary:
The Commissioners of the Shinto Religion Will Resign from Their Positions. The Office
of Shinto Religion (JINGI CHO) Will Be
Formed from Among The People.
The problem of the future of Shinto shrines, which the Allied Powers regard as a
religious one, is being watched with great
interest by all JAPAN. The Government determined to abolish the Office of the Shinto
Religion, which carriers out the
administration of Shinto shrines. If the Office of the Shinto shrine is abolished,
110,000 Shinto shrines throughout the
country will have to form self-governing, private bodies to replace the Office of
the Shinto Religion.
The Officials in charge of matters relating to Shintoism, and parishioners all over
the country are keenly aware of the
problem. Three bodies of the Shinto Religion, the Institute for the Study of Japanese
Classical Literature, the association of
Shinto Religion of Greater JAPAN, and the Association of Religious Service of Shinto
Shrines propose to establish a private
body, the Office of the Shinto Religion.
- 5 -
POLITICAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)
ITEM: 5 (Continued)
They have begun to make appropriate preparations for this establishment. Their object
is as follows: "Shinto shrines, as part
of a national religion, are to be restricted as such things are not consonant with
modern times. However, the real qualities
of Shinto shrines are needed, and 110,000 Shinto shrines of JAPAN should be opened
to parishioners.
The officials of Shintō Religion should resign their positions, in which they are
officials of the country and are treated as
such. They should serve God as private individuals as their duties are urgent at present.
According to the desires of the
officials of Shintō Religion and the parishioners, a non-secular body encompassing
all Shintō shrines throughout the country
will be established, and the status of the officials of Shintō Religion, the propagation
of Shinto Religion, and all other
matters will be governed by it. Subsequently, the unrestricted activity of the body
will meet the demands of the country and
the wishes of the nation will be satisfied.
ITEM 5 Suspension of a Preliminary Inquiry In the House of Peers Asahi Shimbun - 15 Nov 45. Translator: H. Kato.
Summary:
The House of Peers held a joint meeting of the committee directors for investigating
the House of Peers' system at the
President's room in the Diet Building on 16 November. Views on measures taken for
the coming extraordinary session of the Diet
were exchanged.
They came, to the following conclusions:
- 1.Preliminary examination of the bills submitted by the Government, which has been a practice for the last few Diet sessions, will no longer be carried out.
- 2.Bills which were formerly examined by the House of Representatives will be examined, but only essential items thereof will be explained.
- 3.At the coming extraordinary session of the Diet, the Election Law Revision Bill of the House of Representatives, the Labor Union Law Bill, and others which will be basic factors in the reconstruction of a new JAPAN will be submitted, but sufficient time must be allowed for thorough discussion of these matters.
Distribution "X"
- 6 -
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