Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0049, 1945-12-03.
Date3 December, 1945
translation numberpolitical-0201
call numberDS801 .S85
Persistent Identifier
POLITICAL SERIES: 49
ITEM 1 Independent members - 110. The Progressive Party - 250 -Asahi Shimbun - 22 Nov 45. Translator: S. awasaki.
Full translation:
All political parties have been hastening to align and assign their parliamentary
members before the forth-coming
Extraordinary Session of the Diet. The Socialist Party has already announced the formation
of a negotiation body of 15 gen and
both the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party are proceeding along similar lines,
expecting to present a frill report to
the authorities by 26 November 1945.
It is expected that the members will be comprised of about 50 of the Liberal Party
and some 250 of the Progressive Party, the
present, total number of members, except for 42 vacant seats is 424, and if we subtract
about 315 men, members of the three
parties mentioned above, we find about 110 independents.
The attitude of the independents, who will be pretty powerful, is being watched by
all JAPAN. Among them earn, there are the
former "SEISHIN Club" members, such as Mr. FUKUYA Shunichi, Mr. TANAKA Imiji, and
others who intend to form new parties. The
desire to form an amalgamation of independent members, advocated by Messrs. TSUZAKI
Sisatake; MAZAKI, Katsuji; NAMATANI,
Takeyo; KIMURA, Trataro; KITA. [illegible]oichiro; SHINTO, Shintaro and KOYAMA, Ryo is powerful. Finally
about 110 members excluding ten purely independent members, such as Messrs. OZAMI,
Yukio; MITSUI Sakichi; SASAGAWA, Ryoichi
and AKAO, Satoshi will give notice of the formation of a negotiating body to the authorities
on 26 November 1945. They are
expected to attend the coming extraordinary Session of the Diet.
ITEM 2 Premier Shidehara's Diet Speech on Administrative Policy - Asahi Shimbun - 29 Nov 45. Translator: M. Maruyama.
Summary:
His Majesty the Emperor personally worshipped at the ISE Grand Shrines and the Imperial
Mausoleums at UNEBI and MOMOYAMA on 13
and 14 November, and also at the IAMA Mausoleum on 17 November, to report the termination
of the war.
There is one basic fact in the present situation which must always be considered
by those who are in charge of internal
politics and foreign policy, as well as by those who are in a position to comment
on or criticize them. It is that hostilities
have now ended between JAPAN and the Allied Nations, but normal and Peaceful relations
are still far off.
POLITICAL SERIES: 49 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
It is quite proper for us to insist upon policies which are considered just and fair
in dealing with foreign problems, but the
present situation is such that JAPAN has lost much of the strength necessary for carrying
out her policies in a thoroughgoing
manner. This is unavoidable for a defeated country. Of course, there exists in human
society a sense of universal justice and
an inviolable public opinion, but even these have not yet been much appreciated under
the abnormal situations in various
countries fallowing the termination of the war. However, it is the power of morality,
not the power of arms, that will
eventually dominate the world and guide internal and international affairs Control
through rational thinking must prevail.
World opinion will accept this as right. The only goal for JAPAN should be to build
up a new JAPAN, through all-out efforts,
on the basis of justice and fairness. This will be a lighthouse shedding rays of hope
on the future destiny of the country.
With this conviction in mind, I am determined to deal with the affairs of State.
JAPAN has an obligation to eliminate all obstacles standing in the way of restoring
and strengthening democratic tendencies
among the people. Democratic elements in this country have been gradually budding
forth since the MEIJI Era, but these have
bean stopped many times by reactionary forces in recent years. Fortunately, however,
the tree itself has persisted, though the
leaves have fallen, and it is expected that the tendency will emerge once more. Special
efforts will be made by the Government
to insure their unimpeded development.
To attain this objective, the Imperial Diet must be made an organization which reflects
correctly the will of the people. An
entirely free and fair election is therefore essential. The present Election Law for
Members of the House of Representatives
is obviously inappropriate for this purpose. The Government has therefore revised
it and submitted this revision to the
present session for Diet approval. The main reason for having requested Imperial sanction
to convene the present Diet was for
this purpose.
The basic conditions necessary for restoring and strengthening modern democratic
tendencies lies in educational reform. To
eradicate education tinged with militarism and ultra-nationalism, the Government has
laid down a new educational policy by
which the people should serve the country and society by perfecting their individual
characters; it evisages epoch-making
developments particularly in civic education. Needless to say, it will be a superb
national spirit of freedom and independence
that will form the foundation of democracy.
There now seams to be a tendency among the Japanese people to remain in a state of
despair, brought on by unfavorable physical
and moral conditions. It is deplorable to see how moral standards have fallen in both
public and private quarters. This must
be remedied through reform and strengthening of social education so that the people
shall not lose their spirit of freedom and
independence, nor their ardor and enthusiasm for rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The government has abolish various laws and regulations, which previously restricted
political, civic and religious freedom,
to secure freedom of speech, thought, and assembly for the people.
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POLITICAL SEREIS: 49 (Contained)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
Special attention is being paid to instilling public confidence in the police through
the abolition of special higher police
system and making the new system more responsive to the wishes of the people. Liberalism
will be perfected through development
of individual responsibility. It does not, however, mean anything abnormally free
and unrestricted. Speeches, writings, and
actions that are inimical to public order end good custom are liable to legal punishment.
Stabilization of the standard of living is en urgent problem confronting JAPAN at
present. JAPAN has wasted the best part of
her productive capacity and energy because of war lasting more than ten years since
the Manchurian Incident. Her civilian
production, too, has been exhausted. Under such circumstance, all measures must be
directed toward stabilization of the
standard of living, and this needs to be done as quickly as possible. The food problem
is the most important of all. This
year's rice crop is expected to be the leanest of the TAISHO and SHOWA Eras. If the
situation is allowed to develop without
remedy, JAPAN will face a very grave crisis. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation,
the Government is concentrating
every ounce of energy to improve the situation. Reform of the compulsory rice delivery
system increase in the buying price of
rice, and the development of natural resources to get more food are some of the measures
which the Government has taken to
deal with this problem.
In spite of these remedial measures, however, there is still a lack of balance between
the supply and demand of rice. As the
deficit will have to be made good by imports from abroad, the Government has asked
Allied Headquarters for its sympathetic
consideration of this matter, this has been approved in principle by the latter. Furthermore,
efforts shall be made by the
Government to get satisfactory results on the materialization of the import plan JAPAN
has lost much of its food-producing
territories; as a result of its defeat, and this, combined with a considerable increase
in population, has forced the country
to seek a fundamental solution of the food problem, apart from the prevailing food
crises. The result is that it has come
forward with the farm land system reform and land cultivation programs, which is hoped,
will be put into action in the very
near future. A basic reform has been introduced into the farm land system, which is
the principal cause of stagnation in
agricultural development, in order that farmer be encouraged, and farm production
increased. At the same time, large scale
farm cultivation and land reclamation as well as the development of marine products
and other food resources will be carried
out.
Stabilization of the standard of living is another serious problem. Victims of the
war must be helped, Japanese civilians and
soldiers abroad assisted, and the daily necessities of the Japanese people at home
secured. The housing situation is
especially serious, and the Government is adopting all possible measures to ameliorate
the condition. The Government has done
everything in its power to guarantee possessions of the Japanese in KOREA, TAIWAN,
KARAFUTO, and MANCHUKUO, and at the same
time has tried to obtain information on the prevailing situation. However, dislocated
traffic and chaotic conditions
prevailing in these areas have made it difficult to attain these aims. The Goverment
will, however, continue its efforts to
effect speedy correction of these conditions. From South KOREA, North CHINA and the
Pacific Islands-soldiers and civilians are
returning according to plan. Demobilization and repatriation will bring in its wake
serious unemployment problems.
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POLITICAL SERIES: 49 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
The Government has therefore planned large scale projects to engage these unemployed
in useful work. Reconstruction of the war
devastated areas is to be effected under a unified plan which will be set up according
to the distribution of industries and
population. For this purpose the Government has formed a special Reconstruction Bureau.
The rehabilition of JAPAN'S war damaged industries is dependant to a large degree
on civil initiative and effort. Control
measures which impede these efforts will be abolished as soon as conditions permit.
However, the necessity for stabalizing the
standard of living demands, at present, a continuation of control measures on iron
and coal products and textiles, as well as,
or other basic civilian necessities. But state control measures will be restricted
and left to individual self-control as much
as possible. In the future, JAPAN will probably depend largely upon middle and small
scale industries; the state will help
these industries as much as possible. The Government approves formation of labor unions
to effect a democratic solution of
labor problems. It is doing all it can to review transportation and communication.
Japanese Army automobiles have been turned
over to, civilian use through the liberality of the occupation forces, War expenditures
and losses have put JAPAN into a
financial condition which is far from favorable, but the Goverment has adopted various
finincial measures to avoid national
bankruptcy. Finally, the Japanese Goverment has formed a commission to investigate
the causes and facts of the Great East Asia
War in order to avoid repetition of these mistakes in the future.
It is the wish of the Emperor that JAPAN help establish enduring world peace. The
Japanese officials and people must,
therefore, unite their constructive endeavors to achieve such a goal.
DISTRIBUTION: "X"
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