Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-02-26

Japanese children now are
beginning once more to play
with guns. Most Japanese par
ents forbade such toys in the
earlier postwar.
Children swarTned to a mill
tary exhibition sponsored last
year outside Tokyo by a Japa-
nese newspaper. They climbed
enthusiastically on American
guns and tanks lent for the
occasion, just as American
children admire weapons at a
military show in the United
States.
Official Encouragement
The government appears to
encourage the trend. 1t spon-
sors a serial show on the Nip
pom Educational Television sta
ton. depicting the lives Of
soldiers in clarifying terms.
Applications for the Japanese
military academy are up. run
ming '25 for every acceptance.
In previous years even the free
bachelors degree offered by the
institution had not proved suf-
ficient lure to outweigh the
strong paficist inclinations Of
most Japanese.
Kokushikan University in
Tokyo, q conservative school,
has Reconstructed a feudalistic
form Of dueling called kendo.
which was prohibited during
the occupation.
The 45-year-old institution
expects to increase its enroll
ment from the present 5000 to
10000 in the next five years.
But it still is not comparable to
khe big universities Of Japan,
where Zengaburen, the leftist
Student federation, is a strong
influence.
I'VE have no Zengakuren, no
Communists. no pacificists =
Just patroits." a sociology pro- /,
lessor said.
The trend to militarism Is
limited mainly to children and
young men. Middle aged and
older men, as well a most ,
women, seem to remain strongly .
pacifist. !
Japan is building its own nat
ural uranium reactor and could :
eventually produce its own
atomic bombs. But any talk Of :
bombs or plutonium. their raw
material, is still as taboo as .
ever. =
Pressure on War Provision I
Strong pressure has developed a
for q revision Of Article Nine /
of the Japanese constitution, S
which renounces war, but there Z
is still strong resistance to any /
change in this provision. II
Article Nine, virtually dictat- /
ed by Gen. Douglas Macarthur,
says: I
Aspiring sincerely to an in Q
ternational peace based on JUS I
tice and order, the Japanese {
people forever renounce war as I
a sovereign right of the nation I
and the threat or use Of force 1
as a means of settling inter- c
national disputes. s
an order to accomplish the
kim Of the preceding paragraph. |
land, sea, and air forces, well I
bs other war potential. will /
never be maintained. The right 4
of belligerency of the state will 7
not be recognized" {
Japan has long since circum-
vented Article Nine. With the /
encouragement and help Of the /
United States. it began rearm-
Ing near the start Of the Korean
War. Japan called its new
armed forces "self-defense
forces" rather than an army,
navy and air force.
These now number III, 500
men in ground units, $4,000 in
sea units and $500 in air
units. The 242,000 men operate
nearly 1000 tanks and motor
lied guns, 200 ships and LOO
planes.
Trade with Red China
The movement for increased I
trade with Communist China
finds support in the Japanese ,
tradition Of close relations with :
the mainland. In 1923, 20 per ,
cent Of Japan's exports went TO
China. In 1861, the fraction ,
was only o. per cent-an
amount only one tenth Of Jap
ans trade with Formosa.
Trade grew for a few years
starting in 1855 under a COVER
government TO government
trade agreement. But the Chi
nese denounced the agreement
in 1858 after rightists tore down
a Chinese flag, at a trade fair
in Nagasaki.
Behind that incident was a
dispute over whether Japan
would permit the flag to fly as
a right and thus take a step
toward recognition Of Commu-
mist China. The Chinese since
then have generally insisted
that Improvement in trade re-
lations be accompanied by i'm
provements in political rela-
tions.
Other obstacles 10 a resump-
ton OF the trade with the main
land are the strong opposition
Of Chang Kai-shek's govern
ment In Formosa and OF the
United States. Japanese leaders
fear that both will retaliate II
Japan disregards their objec-
tons.
Negotiate with Chou
New negotiations began last
summer. when Premier Chou
En-lai sent an emissary 10
speak with Keno Matsumura,
an elder statesman Of the rul-
ing Liberal-Democratic party.