The Wilmington morning star., 1945-11-11
interpreting
The News
BY JAMES D. WHIT,
Associated Press Stafs ~ Z

otaff Writ,
SAN FRANCISCO. Nav " w
A major item out of Nv ,rsn 49,
week was a brief item not gaa hi
it's no longer safe to Leaving hat
clothing lying around in i've You
house. ~ the bah
Someone is likely TO walk -.
your buds, and you NAV W. =. VIII
japanese equivalent of go;, 10 h.
in a barrel. 1s noMs
If this condition is genera, :. .
presents a revolution-dis+ir,,..,e'
for the worse-in japanese 'I nc.
behavior. Socal
,, Except for few professior,,.
thlevery in Japan used TO h. ,' Nd
although japanese did Soma o .a.e'
sal thieving abroad. '0l'''
But the japanese bath hons. ,..
a place where you left your clo% %''
lying around as did everyone oi,, '
without a thought that thew nir WV,
be disturbed. '''S''
The bath house was moro H..
that. 1t was club for the comr n,aa
man, about his only indulgence avn
about the only place he couId I r..
away from it all. 81
The cop he feared by dav /.
came in the evening, in the al.',
gether, just as naked as anyon ,
else. Who can say how much I'm,
stable the Japanese would bar,
been had they not had this nstio,
al habit of relaxing in hot wate,,
There were rules, unwritten In,
strictly observed. You scrubbss
and rinsed, and when you wers
clean you dunked yourself in va.
ter that would blister if v,r
weren't used to it. Then you soak.
ed, dissolved and emerged new
man. Foreigners who entered In.
big tank without first wasbr,
thoroughly were regarded as il.
norant or anti-social.
So it is that stealing man,
pants while he's simmerinp in
Japan, represents not only spread
of thievery, but the invasion Of ors
of the most stable of japanese in.
situations.
There are reasons for it. One 0.
course, is the poverty of cour.
try which has waged and lost ,
war. Japanese are making dire
predictions about food conditions
this coming winter. 1t follows that
other essentials are scarce.
Shortage
Pants are stolen from the bath
house because there are not enough
to go around and because hungry
| people need them enough-or the
money they will bring on the black
market.
There was black market in ia.
pan before American troops ariv,
ed, so U. S. army goods reachn;
the black market merely increaa
the supply.
This raises the question Of what
the net impact of American oc
cupation is to be, and what it may
be blamed for rightly or wrongly
in the end.
Japanese militarism is benz
squashed, the people are gettnl
a strange new freedom.
But Japan is hungry and vii
get hungrier.
Only this week came the first
instance of active japanese resent
ment. A Japanese sailor Sluggei
a girl who was waiting for her Ct
date. Then a couple of ex-kam.
kaze's tried to assassinate home
minister Horikiri because they had
been sleeping outside in the ram
AS unbeaten japanese fighting
men return to civilian life swell
ing the unemployed and the hun
cry such signs of unrest may
multiply and become tide.
1t doesn't particularly matter
that the occupation of Japan ap'
pears to be proceeding much more
clearly than the occupation Of Ger
many.
Germany is long way from Jos
Suzuki. When conditions arouno
Joe of Tokyo deteriorates to "he''
of Tokyo deteriorates to wherein"
he can't take a bath without "op'
rying about his pants he may No.
be very rational in looking l"
someone to blame.