Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0073, 1945-12-14.
Date14 December, 1945
translation numberpolitical-0312
call numberDS801 .S85
Persistent Identifier
POLITICAL SERIES: 73
ITEM 1 A Peep at the Committees of the House of Peers. They discuss the Sex of an - Egg Asahi Shimbun - 10 Dec 45. Transistor: I. Kuniko
Full Translation:
About one week has passed since the House of Peers lifted the ban and made committee
open to the public. Until that time, the
House had prohibited newsmen from ever walking along its passages, and previously
had a secretary report to them the contents
of committee proceedings in a room called relgarly the "School-room." Frequent demands
for opening their doors to the public
had been refused, but the power of the times has opened the doors of the committee
chambers. The House did not open
voluntarily, but was ordered to do so by MacARTHUR's Headquarters. Newsmen had impolitely
speculated about the reasons for the
secrecy, saying, "The committee apparently is afraid of being called idle", or "It
is afraid that, [illegible]y for revolutionizing the House will become louder." Since the House has been opened
to the public, the contents of
proceedings are very dull, although there may be reasons why attractive bills are
not presented. An indication of the
character of proceedings follows:
Statement: The greatest problem is to be understood by the Americans. Since the Allied
soldiers like flowers very much, the
government, moblizing all the flower growers, should present flowers or fruits to
them in order to sooth their nostalgia, and
in such a way, we may have friendly talks with them.
The reply: I also think that's good.
Question: Where is the "B" money being printed?
Reply: In America.
Question: Are Japanese letters printed on the notes?
Reply: No, English letters.
Question: What color is it?
Answer: Blue.
Question: Do you think there will be threats of riots? If so, in what month of next
year, will these-riots break out?
Reply: "That, I do not know. It is comparable to the story that if one doesn't break
an egg-shell, he cannot tell wheather
it's male or female, or whether or not it is rotten.
POLITICAL SERIES 73 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
Such are the actual questions and answers in the committee. Answers are very defeiled
and sluggish. Some of the
interpellators, being satisfied with the answers, nod and close their eyelids, not
to sleep but to mediate. Every government
committeeman stands up to answer, but the representatives remain seated and interpellate,
folding their arms or squaring both
elbows, or fiddling with their spectacles. If the ministers[illegible]try to stand up to answer, they are re
requested to remain seated, but if persons ranking with the directors of bureaus unconsciously
remain seated while answering,
representatives, attempting to maintain their dignity as peers, cry out, "Stand up,"
and they glare at the offenders. If a
government pleader is timid, he stands upright like a scolded schoolboy and forgets
to sit down after answering.
On the first day the House was open to the public, it held a secret meeting. The
next day, realizing that this might cause a
bad impression, Mr. NARAHASHI, director of the Legislature Bureau, proposed that,
since a secret meeting is to bureaucratic,
we want to expedite proceedings, and keep them open. You newsmen please clear your
seats. But, of course, these negotiations
fell through. After a recess the committee then took steps to hold a closed round-table
conference but it may leave feet
compunctious in doing this.
Since then the committee frequently took such steps as to order the stopping of shorthand
notes. On the sixth day, a
committee-man proposed, "I desire the chairman to amend or correct the short-hand
notes, for there may be writters out of
order." The chairman replied, "I agree and all the committeemen said, "We consent."
There may be such circumstances as to make
the contents of proceedings secret, but the problem exists in the attempt of the House
to resist its democratizators in order
to maintain its old power. Resistance to all changes in order to preserve the old
system can be observed everywhere.
There are two kinds of committement who always keep silent. The first are princes
or marquis who take upper seats and change
into statues. The other are the younger peers who sometimes force faint smiles or
sneers. But when "thought problems" are
discussed all the members drive themselves forward, the sleepers being awakened and
the deaf cupping their hands behind their
ears. "Thought problems" are such as, "Shall we not feel uneasy about releasing Communists?"
"Are private inquiries being
made?" "We Japanese, in nine cases out of ten, are loyal. So, maintaining the Emperor
System is our general will. Accordingly,
is it contrary to democracy that in conformity with the will, we shall arrest traitors?"
"Why doesn't the government strictly
supervise newspapers or radio now?" and so on.
In reply to the last interpellation, the committee said clearly, "We're very sorry
that we can't control them." To the demand
that, "Defining the impiety crime in the Constitution as broadly as possible, do the
utmost to control it," the committee, in
order not to commit itself in the shorthand notes, answered by nodding with amile
and maintained silence for the purpose of
creating ambignity. This is the character aid atmosphere of the committees.
ITEM 2 Suggestion in Penalties for War Criminals - Mainichi Shimbun - 11 Dec 45. Translator: J. Weiller
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POLITICAL SERIES 73 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
Summary:
1. Introduction
What punishment will be meted out to the 150 war criminals suspects who are now in
custody of the Allied Forces if they are
found guilty? Some may not escape the fate of death sentences. Reports tell us that
about 20 per cent of the German war
criminals nominees were found not guilty. But what about their Japanese counterparts?
I do not mean to make any prediction
regarding the judgment of the Allied Forces. What I wish to put forward, at this time
when public opinion is boiling on the
question of the war responsibility, is the means by which the war criminals and profiteers
should be prosecuted, quite apart
from the Allied Forces.
- 1.Those who are moved as war criminals or wartime profiteers should be ordered to write down memoranda of such facts as realized by themselves.
- 2.In the case of the war criminals they should be ordered to write down their confession in which they make known in what way they ask for pardon. In the case of the wartime profiteers they should be ordered to write down method for disgorging their ill gotten gains. The memoranda could be written under detention, or otherwise, as the case may be. A committee should be set up to order rewriting of memoranda if deemed imperfect.
- 3.Those who ore war criminals or wartime profiteers should be ordered to read aloud a part or whole of their own memoranda before the public. A committee should be set up, authorized to order the guilty to repeat the recital two or three times, if necessary.
- 4.Let special questioners or accusers question the guilty. Instead of ordinary court of justice, a certain number of questioners or saccusers should be chosen who are acquainted with the crimes or responsibility and who would question or accuse the guilty citing actual items, in the presence of the public after the recital of the memoranda. 5. Let the guilty work out sentences on forms.
- 6.Cave them perform certain tasks within a prescribed time: For instance cultivation of co-operative works, completion of roads, which would at the same time help alleviate unemployment.
- 7.Have war-guilt people contributed to a special enterprise in place for a fine, for example a profiteer to the Red Cross, a criminal to Education of orphans of war colamity suffers, and so on
- 8.The culprits should be unable to hold office for a certain period.
- 9.They should relinguish ranks, titles or orders.
- 10.They should relinguish pension, annuity or other special benefits.
- 11.They should reside within a certain district during a certain period instead of imprisonment.
- 12.(In place of a death sentence) they shall suffer the torture of disgrace and self-recrimination.
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POLITICAL SERIES 73 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
The above penalties should be pronounced at the Memoranda. Investigation Committee
under the jury system as formerly practiced
in the Court of Justice, after full explanation and defence by the accused. The execution
should be carried out according to
various local circumstances. In this way we can kill two birds with one stone. The
nation would square accounts with the
guilty while the penalties would help relieve the unemployment problem.
ITEM 3 Hatoyama Apologizes To The Public - Yomiuri - Hochi - 10 Dec 45. Translator: K. Murakami
Summary:
The diet is panic stricken by the hunting of those responsible and guilty for the
war, and who standing the way of a new
democratic JAPAN. Under these circumstances, Mr. HATOYAMA, President of the Liberal
Party, has been very active in the diet
and at local rallies. However, despite all his efforts, he isn't free from the suspicious
eyes of the people. He is blamed for
two things: One is the TAKIGAWA Case of KYOTO Imperial University which Mr. HATOYAMA
disposed of as Educational Minister in
1933. The other is that he was a by stander during the war, retiring to KARUIZAWA.
On 10 December we questioned him concerning these matters. He said, "I found two
faults, in the conclusion reached by The
Lecture on Penal Law" written by Mr. TAKIGAWA, Professor at KYOTO Imperial University.
In his opinion on a crime of rebellion,
there was the dangerous thought that the end justifies the means. This thought apparently
suggested approval of a violent
revolution to change the national polity. Another point concerned his idea on the
family. He considered the family as [illegible]place of strife between man and woman, introducing the principle of class strife into
the family
system, the latter being an ancient Japanese institution. The family is an ideal form
of society, and JAPAN is itself a big
family, at the head of which is His Majesty the Emperor. Contending that the destruction
of the family is the destruction of
the Nation, I desired Professor TAKIGAWA's resignation. As a routine procedure, I
then reported it at a Cabinet meeting. When
I explained it to Mr. KONISHI, President of KYOTO Imperial University at that time,
he murmured, "unavoidable"! The
resignation of Professor TAKIGAWA caused a school disturbance among the "reds".
He then refered to the transition of his thought, from anti-leftist and anti-rightist
to socialistic, confessing that in the
TAKIGAWA case, he was too impulsive. He continued, "During the war I led a farmer's
Life in my villa at KARUIZAWA. I did not
attend the Diet, in which, was found nothing but flattering speeches and applause.
Nevertheless, I was not a bystander in
regard to the war I had attempted to persuade the military authorities and influential
statesmen, first, of the need for
reduction in armaments, second, for prevent of war, and finally, of the need for terminating
the war. As an envoy is BRITAIN
at the beginning of the CHINA Incident, I persuaded CHAMB[illegible]I and EDEN to give up six provinces in
North CHINA. Therefore I requested the Japanese government to send peace delegates
to the BRUSSELS Conference, but this was
not done, due to the interference of this military clique. Upon my return home, I
was excluded by milit-[illegible]sts arists and rightists, even being refused permission to land.
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POLITICAL SERIES 73 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
"Then, I persuaded General MAZAKI and General UGAKI to keep away from the trend toward
war. I definitely opposed the Triple
Alliance between JAPAN, GERMANY and ITALY. Moreover, I argued with OKADA and WAKATSUKI,
declaring that the Japanese — American
War could not be avoided if left in the hands of KONOE. However, OKADA did not agree
with me, saying "It is merely your
anxiety." Immediately after the fall of SINGAPORE, I made efforts to exploit the success
as an opportunity to terminate the
war in victory. My contention was that we could strike a bargain by getting the materials
in HAINAN Island, JAVA and SUMATRA.
I'm sure that I was not merely unobserved during the war, rather I did my best.
DISTRIBUTION "X"
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