Press translations [Japan]. Political Series 0120, 1945-12-26.
Date26 December, 1945
translation numberpolitical-0524
call numberDS801 .S85
Persistent Identifier
POLITICAL SERIES: 120
ITEM 1 Mr. SHIMADA will be the President and Mr. MAKINO will be the Vice-president of TAKAOKA Municipal Assembly - Provincial Newspaper- Hokkoku Mainichi (KANAZAWA) - 13 Dec 45. Translator: R. Ochiai.
Summary:
As the time has come to find a president and vice-president of the TAKAOKA Municipal
Assemble, to succeed those resigning, a
conference was held on 10 December at the municipal office to discuss these matters.
After much deliberation, Mr. SHIMADA,
Kitaro, was recommended as president, and Mr. MAKINO, Teijiro, as vice-president.
A town council will be held on 15 December to elect the president and vice-president,
and after their elections a new mayor
will be sought.
ITEM 2 New Citizen's Union of AICHI Ken - Provincial Newspaper-Chubu Nippon Shimbun (NAGOYA) - 22 December 45. Translator: S. Sano.
Extracts:
Aiming at the democratization of the local political structure, the Citizen's Union
of AICHI-Ken was inaugurated at the AICHI
Prefectural Office on 20 December.
Mr. ISHIGURO, Koichi (its originator and member of the Prefectural Council), and
seven others were selected as the permanent
committeemem. They are: YOKOI, Kamekichi; SHINODA, Shinichi; YAMAUCHI, Kurasoburo;
ISHIDA, Ginjiro; SAKAKIBARA, Magotaro; OMI,
Tameji; and SAKABE, Kametaro.
ITEM 3 5 Candidates for Social Democratic Party in NAGANO Ken - Provincial Newspaper-Shinano Mainichi Shimbun (NAGANO) - 23 Dec 45. Translator: S. Sano.
Extracts:
The Excutive Committee of the Social Democratic Party in NAGANO-Ken held a meeting
in NAGANO on 22 December and discussed
plans for the next general election.
The following five men were recommended as candidates (more will be added as conditions
demand): NOMIZO, Katsu; HAYASHI,
Torao; TANAHASHI, Kotora; MIYASHITA, Gaku; and MOTOFUJI, Tsunenatsu,
POLITICAL SERIES: 120 (Continued)
ITEM 4 Mr. KOZAICA, ex-Diet member, refused to stand for the election - Provincial Newspaper-Shinano Mainichi Shimbun (NAGANO) - 23 Dec 45. Translator: S. Sano.
Extracts:
Mr. KOZAKA, Takeo, of the Progressive Party, and former Diet Member from the first
district of NAGANO-Ken, who was expected to
stand in the council election, decided not to run and asked his political friends
for approval on 22 December. He said that
his friends urged him to run in the election, but he refused firmly to do so. He also
said that he would support a suitable
candidate in the coming election and do his best for the local political party in
the future.
ITEM 5 The Reform of the Diet - Tokyo Shimbun - 24 Dec 45. H. Naoji.
Full Translation:
The Diet will be able to face the various requirements of the new generation when
the House of Representatives and the House
of Peers are reformed. Having finished its epoch-making work of the revision of the
Election Law, the House of Representatives
can be said to have started its own reform. In addition, the Diet is already dissolved
and the general election is imminent,
so reform of the House of Peers is now looked forward to by the people. What will
be the thoughts of the members of the House
of Representatives and the House of Peers toward each other?
From this point of view, Viscount OKOCHI, Kiko, member of the House of Peers, and
Mr. KATAYAMA, Tetsu, former member of the
House of Representatives, stated their opinions for us as follows:
Mr. KATAYAMA, Tetsu, former member of the House of Representatives: "The reform of
the House of Peers lies in complete
abolition of the present House of Peers, which is made up of aristocrats, high taxpayers,
and veteran officials. To supplant
them, we should appoint representatives from various professions. The projected House
of Peers should be composed of
representatives of labor and former unions, capitalists, technicians, physicians,
attorneys and other professions. The House
of Representatives represents various regions, and the House of Peers will be able
to discuss professional bills as
representatives of the professions.
"At the end of the MEIJI Era, the late HOZUMI, Yataka, refused the right of the masses
to participate in political affairs,
saying that the Universal Suffrage Law Bill must not be introduced into the House
of Peers. The House of Peers wielded its
authority as a spokesman of the aristocrats and the ZAIBATSU, but now it is on the
brink of ruin. The Privy Council, of
course, will be abolished since the system of senior statesmen has ceased to function.
The evil of past politics lay in the
restriction of power to a few privileged men.
"When we think of the time that aristocrats, militarists, ZAIBATSU and bureaucrats
made the House of Peers a kind of black
market of polities we realize that the causes of defeat in the present war can be
attributed to despotic rule. Consequently,
it will be most important to expel those politicians from the House of Peers, rather
than merely patch up the situation by
temporary measures. When we speak of democracy we mean free participation of the people
in politics. Speaking from this point
of view, the Diet, which is
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POLITICAL SERIES: 120 (Continued)
ITEM 5 (Continued)
composed of members of the House of Representatives, must become the center of political
activity. Consequently, the House of
Peers will lose its worth, and a new professional House of Peers will replace it.
Also, the abolition of the present House of
Peers is necessary for the establishment of democratic politics, in that representatives
of the people must replace these
war-guilty members.
"Now that the power of the GUMBATSU is broken, the power of the ZAIBATSU should also
be taken away. Court ranks and the Order
of Merit should be taken from people, irrespective of peerage. Thus, all people should
start a new life. The overthrew of all
feudal ideas, such as contempt for the people, as well as contempt for women, which
will be broken down with the
enfranchisement of women, will also become necessary. In overthrowing the attitude
of contempt for people, the abolition of
the House of Peers can be said to be the most urgnet question."
Viscount OKOCHI, Kiko, of the House of Peers: "It seems rather presumptuous to criticise
the House of Representatives from the
standpoint of a member of the House of Peers, but, to speak frankly, I hope for strengthened,
unified, political [illegible]. It will, of course, be necessary for one party to gain more members than the others
in a political
struggle. However, those who had followed their conviction for many years, and those
who had flattered bureaucrats, will never
co-operate. The problem of unifying political parties must be solved with this in
mind. The Election Law Bill that passed the
Diet encourages disunity of political parties. Indeed, the management of the revision
bill seems to be very difficult, and it
is sad to see that a tendency toward disunity of political parties has already arisen.
In such countries as ENGLAND or
AMERICA, where constitutional politics have progressed very far, the people's interest
in politics has developed much more
than in our country.
"It is regrettable that time has been wasted on the question of war responsibility
in the recent Diet session. In other words,
the man who has caused a fire and the men who has poured oil into the fire are equallt
responsible. But the man who tried to
extinguish it has no responsibility. There are men, simulating liberalism, who submitted
useless bills in the Diet session in
spite of their war responsibility. These men circulated such ideas as that of the
people's general confession of war
responsibility, in order to remove the burden of guilt from themselves. I think that
such men should have admitted their war
responsibility.
"The Election Law Bill, forwarded by the Progressive Party, seems to intend to oppress
the appearance of new men in order that
the Progressives, can acquire the reins of goverment again."
ITEM 6 Justice Minister IWATA's Address on the Principle of Control for the General Election - Asahi Shimbun - 25 Dec 45. Translator: N. Tachibana
Full Translation:
Chief public procecutors of local courts in all parts of JAPAN met in a conference
in the Ministry of Justice on 24 December
in order to discuss and determine the principle of control for the forthcoming general
election. Justice Minister IWATA,
Justice Vice-Minister SAKANO, members of the Home Office, President of the Supreme
Court
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POLITICAL SERIES: 120 (Continued)
ITEM 6 (Continued)
SHIMOYAMA, Public Prosecutor-General NAKANO, President of the Court of Appeals, find
Chief Public Prosecutors from all parts
of JAPAN attended the meeting. Prior to Public Prosecutor-General NAKANO's address
and Chief of Criminal Affairs Bureau SATO's
discussion of the problem, Justice Minister IWATA delivered the following address:
"As a logical outgrowth of her acceptance
of the POTSDAM Declaration, JAPAN is now expected to revive and strengthen democratic
trends in politics, economy, culture,
and society, in order to build a foundation for the future JAPAN. Therefore, by dissolving
the House of Representatives the
Government plans to carry out a free general election and to establish a democratic
Government guided by public opinion. In
the recent election law revision, the minimum age of voters and the age qualifications
for candidates have been lowered.
Therefore, the number of voters has greatly increased. Complicated regulations, tending
to interfere with free elections
should be swept away by simplifying regulations for controlling the election.
"I hope all of you thoroughly understand the significance of the forthcoming general
election. Throw away completely the idea
regarding control and co-operate fairly and enthusiastically in participating in the
election. As the forthcoming election
will be held under conditions of freedom of speech and assembly, it is espected that
many speeches will be delivered during
the campaign. In view of the internal conditions of public order caused by the present
food shortage, we cannot say that there
is no danger of the occurrence of serious disturbances. I hope all of you will be
careful to maintain public peace by guarding
against this difficulty."
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