Evening star., 1945-09-10

CONTINUED From First Page)

render.
Asked who was responsible for
starting the war, the man who was
Premier and virtual dictator Of
Japan from before Pearl Harbor un-
til the Americans took Saipan re-
piled:
You are the victors and you are
able to name him now. But histo-
rians 500 or 1000 years from now
may judge differently"
He said that he himself had mar
rowly escaped death May Is when
a Super Fortress fire raid ringed his
house with flames.
Tojo's home is new, in the Yoga
district about an hours drive from
the Imperial Palace and a half
hour from the Meiji shrine where
the United States lst Cavalry Divis-
ion is bivouacked.
When we first saw him, TOTO was
lying back in a rickety rattan gar
den chair. supervising solitary
laborer who was filling in cellar
like arm raid shelter of concrete.
TOTO subsequently said that he
and his family had saved themselves
in that shelter in the fire raid which
burned a. small outbuilding within
five feet of his home and wrecked
the surrounding district.
You burned my three best pine
trees" said the man whose arRies
destroyed most of Asia. Now have
to replace them with bamboo, p"
pointing to japanese style garden
covering the charred foundations of
the burned outbuildings. Beneath
the garden is basement where TOTO
said he intended to store vegetables
from his farm of several acres sur
rounding the house.
Taken to Home by Liberal.
We were taken to the place by
Jiuiji G. Kasai, Liberal parliament
tartan who was graduated from the
University of Chicago in 1918 and
who acted as interpreter for us
Kasai lost his seat in the Diet in 1912
through pressure brought by Tojos
totalitarian party, the Imperial Rule
Assistance Association.
| Kasai said he had visited Tojo
only 10 days ago to pay his respects
| for the suicide of the generals SON.
in-law. Maj Koga, who committed
hara kiri on failure of conspiracy
to prevent the Emperor's peace an
nouncement from reaching the
public
However, Tojo's home is in such a
remote district that Kasai had to
ask the police for fresh directions
near the burned-out Shibuya station
The police stared curiously at our
jeep while Kasai talked to them
He returned, saying, the police
we're very polite when I asked fol
TOTO because they thought I was
conducting a very prominent Amer.
ican Army gentleman"
With that we whisked off, past q
dozen or so startled policemen who
were guarding the last series Of
narrow lanes to Tojo's home.
House of Mixed Architecture.
In few minutes we halted ir
front of the neat one-story resi-.
dence that is possibly the most dis
cussed house in Asia. 1t has beer
built since TOTO fell from power, ane
the japanese say it is far more elab.
crate than any he would permit Il
be built under his regime.
The house is strange mixture o.
Western and japanese architecture
A tan stucco front porch makes j
look like any ordinary suburban
American home, but the main par
is entirely japanese, with big spaci
GUS rooms and glass sliding window
and panels, some of which still ar,
covered with adhesive tape strips
relics of air raid days. The house
some sources say, was some sort O.
bribe.
j The politician who earlier in
formed us of Tojo's plan to accus
Roosevelt of war responsibility, in
sisted that the former Premier wa
roundly hated by the Japanese pub
lie because he had thus far failet
to commit suicide.
The informant begged that h
remain anonymous, saying, IF tn
people knew I visited him the,
would kill me-"
Quoting a friend in the foreig,
office. this informant said Toj'
intended to commit suicide as sool
as he had made his expected cour
: defense.
Other sources reported that Toj
had amassed a fortune Of million
: of yen during his tenure of office
most of it coming from the illici
: opium trade in China, where higl
generals acted as couriers to tax
the drug from North China t.
Shanghai markets.
Made Final Gesture to Fight.
Despite his power, Tojo's down
fall was a foregone conclusion t
the Japanese after the loss of Sal
t pan. These sources said that TO
days after the island was los
: Tojos telephone rang and anony
nous voices asked his wife, Hash
TOTO committed hari kiri yet?"
. Even thus in disgrace, howeve,
e the man who began the war mad
one final strong gesture to try t
. keep Japan fighting.
: One of the conspirators who kille
i the commanding general of tn
Imperial Guards Division in a
!; effort to prevent surrender new
from reaching the public was TOTO
:. -in-law. When the plot faile
I and Maj. Koga himself committe
suicide, Tojo's wife said, He di
q brave, honorable thing"
It seems evident that under tn
, clannish family relationships exist
] ing in Japan, TOTO himself ha
directed Maj. Koga's actions.
While Tojo's police bodyguar
:. stared, he walked through the gat
i and to his front door. A youn
: man in odds and ends Of an arm
/ uniform was working on a midg.
4 car which had bright blue pair
e job but lacked one wheel.
: Our Interpreter wrote our nam.
= on a card and asked the young ma