Evening star., 1946-03-17

soldiers. The young recruits sent
to Japan have been more difncult
to control, In this respect, than the
combat troops whom
they replaced.
X 4 4 X
What is the explanation Of this
complete, even abject, acceptance Of
defeat by the Japanese?
There are several answers. One Is
that the Japanese obey the Emperor
in peace as blindly as they obeyed
him in war, and that the will Of the
Emperor establishes the state Of
mind Of his subjects. This explains,
Of course, the policy adopted In the
beginning by Gen. Macarthur OF
working through the Emperor-a
policy which undoubtedly has saved
many American lives and which has
simplified the whole process of oc-
cupation.
On the other hand, the japanese
have been so completely beaten In
this war that, 1t may be argued
they had no alternative but to ac-
cept their defeat and make the bes,
Of 1t. It is impossible to convey any
adequate understanding Of what wal
and defeat brought to Japan.
recent summary Of B-29 operations
alone gives part of the picture II
such statistics as these: Between
November II, 1874, and August IA
1915, the B-29s flew 33,047 bomber
sorties over Japan, dropping 159 ,86:
tons Of bombs-1,19 tons daily dur
ing the final three months of tn,
war. Nearly 200 square miles Of in
dustrial areas were burned out, tn,
productivity Of 81 cities was de-
stroyed and 21,000,000 civilians wer'
displaced (rendered homeless). II
five main cities Of Japan-Tokyo
Osaka, Yokohama, Nogoya and Kob,
and in 81 other cities 178 square
miles of territory were burned out
If the war had continued another
80 days, all cities over $4,000 popu.
lation would have been destroyed
Tokyo was 81 per cent burned out
Toyama, on the inland sea side o1
the island of Honshu, was 1895 pei
cent" destroyed, as compared with
the atom-bombed cities of Hiro.
shima (6O per cent? and Nagasak
IA per cent?.
The Japanese nation is fiat on it,
back and the extent Of the physica
damage suffered is exceeded only
by the devastation of its whole
economic system. That may be the
best explanation Of why 100000 oc.
cupation troops are successfully
patrolling, without incident, a pop.
ulation Of over 10000, 900 people. II
is possible, too, that the japanese
have decided that American occupa.
ton is the lesser of two evils. There
is no doubt about their fear of the
Russians.
Something in the nature of a
crisis, however, Is expected to bring
a new test of the American occupa-
ton policy this spring. Severa,
elements may contribute to thi:
crisis. One is an anticipated foot
shortage, which will produce starva.
ton for thousands of Japanese
although there has been no starva.
ton yet. Another is the impact o.
the returning Japanese soldiers. 81,
million of them will be brought bacl
to Japan, and they are not beine
well received. They mean more
mouths to feed. They are lookee
upon as sharing responsibility fol
defeat. Tens of thousands of then
will be unable to find even the
remnants Of their destroyed home.
or survivors Of the families which
perished in the bombing. And Japar
lacks experienced leadership among
her own people, most of the
experienced leadership having beer
deliberately removed as a policy
There is some complaint among the
occupation authorities over the un.
willingness, if not the inability, o.
the Japanese officialdom to assum.
responsibility. Directives are issued
the Japanese indicate full willing.
ness to comply, but sometimes moth.
ing happens because there is no on.
in authority to see that it happens
At the same time there are un'
mistakabie signs of an awakening
among the Japanese people Of /,
new spirit and a new hope. II
private conversation, they expires!
full satisfaction with the changes
taking place. Thousands of rail
way workmen parade unmolestet
through Tokyo, carrying banner
asking a 100 per cent increase IL
wages. Japanese newspapers carr,
editorials questioning the Emperor
war guilt. There are now 16
political parties, saccording to on
American observer who countet
them, although some of the partie
consist only of a leader and a fol
lower. or merely a leader. Their
were 2,651 registered candidates, &C
cording to a recent count, for tn
Diet-about six times as man,
candidates as there are seats Ii
the lower house. The greatest mum
Der Of the candidates were identi
ned with no party-preferring t.
run as independents. In a privat
conversation the Prime Ministe
said that many of the candidate.
he had been told, were wholly un
known even In their own districts.
Such q condition might be re
garded as political chaos, rathe
than construction of a new politics
order. Yet these people in Japa,
are tasting freedom for the frs
time and If some of their action
seem awkward and even ridiculou.
they are, after all, very natura
The Japanese are for the first tim
in their lives being given an op
portunity to try out for themselve
theories of government unknow
to them in the past but accepte
by the American people as tn
foundation of freedom,