Evening star., 1941-10-18
Jupun Decides

| SAoVS ooPaitSDS SobAiiSV ASoA6iiSo, AZ
was generally conceded to mean the
bankruptcy of compromise. Thence
forth, the militarists logically were
bound to come to power. The only
doubt was how far and in what
direction japanese aggression would
go. And it was also predicted that
this uncertainty would be cleared up
with selection of the next Prime
Minister.
The denouement is at hand.
Emperor Hirohito has named Lieu
tenant General Eiki Toto as the next
Premier. The army is in the saddle
and the new cabinet as a whole is
strongly militaristic. General Tojos
record alone is enough to insure it's
aggressive character, and also the
direction which aggression is likely
to take
General TOTO is pre-eminently a
man of war A soldier and the son
of soldier, he incarnates the trucu-
lent Samurai spirit which glorifies
death in battle and prefers the
agonizing suicide of hara-kiri to the
slightest hint of dishonor. In army
circles he is nicknamed THE Razor"
for his inciSive utterances and &C
tionS. His philosophy can be summed
up by reported utterance in recent
interview, when he exclaimed: THE
japanese people should move as one
cannon ball of fiery resolution" An
avoWed admirer of PrusSian militar-
ism, ne has been one of the heads of
the KWantung army, that self-as-
sertive elite force set to guard
Manchukuo and always ready for
spring at Siberia. Four years ago, he
publicly declared: Japan must be
ready to fight China and Russia
simultaneously"
For General TOTO Russia remains
the supreme enemy and Siberia the
grand prize. Earlier this year he
acquired false reputation for mod
GRAFTON in the eyes of some short
sighted foreign observers because he
repeatedly opposed the occupation of
French 1ndo-China That, however,
was because he did not wish any
dissipation of japanese energy from
the Siberian objective, which, to him,
was paramount. Such is the man to
whom the Emperor invested with
the aura of divinity has assigned the
political leadership of the empire.
Can it be seriously doubted whittier
Japan is likely to move when the
hour is deemed ripe? Can it also be
doubted that, with Russia menaced
by major military disaster in
Europe, a japanese stroke at Siberia
will be long delayed?
In principle, Japan seemingly has
fixed the basis of its foreign policy,
with its specific line of action def
nitely set. Nothing that America
henceforth can say is likely to deter
the men now coming into control at
Toxic. A japanese. invasion of ST.
IBERIA and a naval blockade of
VladivoStok would be a definite chal-
lenge to the American and British
policy of aid to Soviet Russia. If
accompanied by formal declara-
ton Of war, Japan would have the
right under international law to
intercept shipping bound for Rus
Sia'S Pacific port. Washington and
London would then be faced with the
choice either of accepting the block
ade or of defying it, which would
itself be an act of war against Japan.
The issue would then be squarely
joined and the Far East would be on
fire.
There is no use blinking this situa-
ton. Unless an eleventh-hour po-
litical miracle occurs, Japan has
chosen to hack her path to supremacy
in the Far East with the Samurai
sword or commit national hara-kiri
as the penalty of defeat. The sands
of indeciSion have run out. AS a
leading Toxic journal, Nichi Nichi,
trenchantly puts it: Japan is facing
rise or fall and a crisis never par
alleled in her history.