Evening star., 1935-11-17
CENSORSHIP IS ACCEPTED
AS INEVITABLE In JAPAN
Press, Otherwise Modern, Does Not
Miss Its Freedom, Objecting Only to
Minor Inconveniences of Bans.
BY BEN McKELWAY.
Special Correspondent of The Star

u opian army. Both are miss
Ing though neither is missed. Jap
enese newspaper men and the news
paper reading public of Japan philo-
sophically accept the tyrannieS OF bu-
reaucratic censorship. along with the
absence of any effective libel laws,
as they would spell of nasty weather.
It may be disagreeable but there's
nothing to do about it.
To the American newspaper man,
however, fresh from the land of the
free and the home of the brave, where
any attempt at press censorship would
bring universal condemnation of the
would-be censor and the widest eX-
ploitation of the forbidden news, the
mechanics of press censorship and the
psychology which permits it are of
more than professional interest.
Imagine, if you can, the indignant
CONSERVATION in an American news
paper Office that would follow receipt
of this official ban from police head
quarters:
You are hereby advised not to pub
lish any news other than that Sc
lected by the navy Office in regard to
the grand naval maneuvers to be held
in 1885, or items which can be sur
missed as referring to the following:
Time and place of the maneuvers;
formation of the participating units:
matters concerning research and
practice and equipment used.
Newspapers publishing the afore-
mentioned shall be suppressed.
Censor Office.
metropolitan Police Board"
But in Japan there was nothing
unusual about that ban or many
others like it, for anything concern
Ing navy or troop movements is
usually suppressed until the author
tiles want it printed. The unusual
concerning the ban quoted above oc-
Cured when an editor Of the Eng
lsh language Japan Times allowed
this small item under a Washington
date line to slip into his first page:
There was no comment today on the
Japanese naval maneuvers."
Edition Is Confiscated.
The publication of that innocuous
filler at the bottom of column on
page one led to the suppression and
confiscation of the Sunday edition of
the Times in which it appeared. The
fact that it was not discovered by
the censor until half the run was
circulated was merely lucky break
for the circulation manager. The
remainder of the papers undistributed
circulation was destroyed.
One curious thing about the CEN
sorship system is that the ban some
times acquaintS the newspaper Offices
for the first time with the news which
Is to be suppressed. japanese news
papers were fully informed long in
advance that the Manchukuo govern
ment was to be established. But there
was ban on printing anything about
Il until the event was announced for
nally by the foreign office. Even the
date on which the ban would be lifted
was known in advance. So Nichi-
Nichi, one of Tokio's and Japans
leading newspapers. with circula-
ton Of over a million, decided to take
a chance and get a scoop. 1t ran a
story to the effect that on such and
such day there would be interesting
news about Manchukuo-not much
more than that. The police immedi-
ately descended on the Office and
burned about 400, 1000. copies of the
days press run.
And that hurt Nichi-Nichi more
than if the authorities had sent their
publisher to Jail japanese news
papers still maintain publishers.
sometimes a printer, on their pay
rolls, whose duty it is to go to jail and
take the rap when a ban is violated
provided violation means a jail SEN
tence. Sometimes bans violation
means nothing more than small
fine, which the paper is willing to pay
for the news and the prestige of the
scoop.
In the United States freedom of
the press is regarded as the heritage
of free men; something to be fought
for and preserved as an essential
element of democratic government. In
the United States individual freedom
and freedom of the press come above
what some bureaucrat might happen
TO regard as the welfare of the State
But in Japan there is another point
of view. Nobody ever claimed that
Japan and a democratic country had
great deal in common. In Japan
the freedom of the individual is Incl
dental to the welfare of the state
and the determination of what is best
for the state naturally falls to some
bureaucratic Office holder whose ideas
on the subject are sometimes vague
and often silly.
Bureaus Are CensOrs.
Censorship in Japan is exercised
Chiefly by two government bureaus,
the censorship Office of the Metro
politan Police Board which comes
under the home secretary, and the
Office of the public prosecutor, or
procurator. The former exercises
censorship not only over all reading
matter entering Japan but over all
matter printed in Japan. When an
item appears in japanese newspaper
displeasing to the censor to the
army, the navy or to the government.
the newspaper is notified Immediately
and If there is not time to make
over page pressman with a chiSel
goes to work on the plate and de-
faces the type. Not long ago an
English h-language paper in Toxic
printed a leading editorial under the
title: "Japan's China Policy" which
was not pleasing to the censor. TIE
paper was notified before its press run
was complete and for the rest of the
edition the editorial column ran
blank. with only the caption standing
constituting, thereby, a rather
effective denunciation not only of
Japanese policy in China but of the
censorship policy at home.
The procurator may also ban police
news and the ban is often exercised
on news of anti-Communist police
activities. In today's Japan Adver-
tiser the leading story on page one