BATTERED WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

Chronicle (Levin), 14 June 1946, Page 4

BATTERED WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

(Official N.Z. Correspondent)

CONDITIONS IN JAPAN TO-DAY

. - ghojj u, iviay 6. With a nation as .enigmanc aS the J apaheSe it is diflflcult to generan'se on me attitude of the people" and the efL'ects of newly-instituted reiorms. ino people- like to hnd unemseives unaer aiien control, out t,ne eiement oi hypocrisy in tne" uapanese compliance with Allied bccupational aemands and iriStructions ivotiid- appear to Be lbwr This is a refie'ction oi the pebuliar feud-; anstie attitude oi the majority of me people, Which has conditioned them to a slavish acceptance of wnoever may be holdihg tne reins at any time in . the hope ttl&t the^f may preserve themseives. Gn this obenience rests, at one and. tnd saine time, the strength and the' potentiai weakness of the occupaoion arid its aims. The Jap'anese know they werfe* beaten and, With strange candour,do not use, the atomic bomb as theiif excuse. Thfey appedr to Be |)leased Ghat they have been freea from Gheir own militanstic clique'S oppression, but it would hardiy bd accurate to say they are repentanti For the buik of ihe nation, this ne# development seems to nave no par^ ciculai® meaning — it is j'ust another pnase m their iives, and responsibili.uy foi* the past, p.resent, or ftiture, is nothing to do with the Nipponese man-in-the-street. It is difficult to say whether the average Japanese reaiises his per-; sonal share in the sequence of aggression which led to Japan's present plight. They agree in peacg u,s a policy and blame the miiitarists for their misfortunes. The fact 0hat aggressioh Was their national policy does not appear to have occurred to them — in fact, there is still a strong tendehcy to regard Japan as the aggrieved party in the ovents which cuiminated in the •China incidelit." They are, however, displaying a convincing degree of shoeked surprise in the revela-: oions of the individual acts of .itrocities coming from the war orials. The pros and cons oh the queation of the retention of the fimperor balairce themseiyes fairly weli. The occupational. authorities had the choice of rebuilding Japanese society or remodeiling it — the former is a better jbb ih the long run, but the latter is mucii quicker and cheaper. Furthermore., ihe imperial institution is a potent factor in the political field. Therb have been eomplaints — many of chem Russian inspired or openly Russian — that MacArthur's policy is soft. While the overall policy might not coincide with those which Russia has demonstrated under Soviet occupation, it could hardiy be called soft. As an American corres-; ponderit wrofee: "MacArthur is using a policy much admired by Hitler, who was hardiy a softie: making a demand which by itseif does not seem worth resisting; after that has bebn gained, making another demand, and so on until large cumulative results have been obtained." Speculation on the future of Japan would, at this stage, appear to be of little worth, aependent as it is on the duration of the occupation and the effects of policieS yet to be formulated. Japan's posiGion as economic cornerstone of the Orient could only be regained by showing far greater economic competence than her neighbours and she will be a long way back when the race starts. In this she is in a very different position from Germany which, even now, must be regarded as a factor to be considered in the European economic setup. Japan is in a sorry plight to-day — the once-mighty fleet has gong, .he army is broken up, the pre-war markets have gone, the Asiatic prestige is gone, the sourges of raw materials have gdrie,' tfif factories which turned out" mfasses ■ bf ; iaw?priced low-grad.3- ar-ticles, for all' the world have' gone.- The people, in: the metropolitan ar eas at least, , are poorly fed and poorly "elothed." The Greater East Asia Co-Prosjperity Sphere is but a mocking meriioiy. But even the most optimistic Brave-New-Worlder rriust ■ coricide that beneath the surface of the Japanese mass.es lies an undetcurrent of enmity ahd aritagdfaishi: the ant-like recuperafive po^fers bf the Japanese are seif-eVideiit; Japanese manpoWer remains relatively high. The prfesent garb of Japan is defihiteiy sheep's clothing. But beneath the Meece remains something suspici'ously reminiscent of a wolf, however battered it may be. ,