JAPAN CLAIMS SHE BARTE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 216, 13 August 1943, Page 6

JAPAN CLAIMS SHE BARTE

PROFESSOR KOMAKI, Japan’s leading Geopolitican, OutHaushofers the Nazis in Broadcasting to the Japanese Empire the Ofticial Japanese Claim to All the Land Surfaces of the World as its "Co-Prosperity Sphere,’ and to All the Waters of This Planet as Part of the "Great Japanese Sea." What next? Mars?

(From an article by

SELDEN C.

MENEFEE

in " Asi »" ia" )

Singapore, a professor from Kyoto Imperial University stepped before a Tokyo radio microphone and delivered the first of a series of six sensational lectures on the geopolitics of the Japanese Empire, His introductory speech was so full of extravagant claims to domin@nce over every corner of the world that it was not taken seriously in America. But, as the series continued, Professor Komaki became more and more specific as to Japan’s claims, And with the passage of time, Japan’s conquests followed the pattern laid down by Komaki with startling accuracyuntil the soldiers of the Rising Sun were stopped short of Australia and India by men of the United Nations. S HORTLY after the fall of

Upon investigation Sunekichi Komaki, Doctor of Literature, turned out to be one of Japan’s two or three most eminent geographers. Although he was not an official spokesman for the Imperial Government, the fact that he appeared as a representative of a government university, in government radio broadcasts apparently intended only for the ears uf the Japanese in East Asia, lends weight to his statements, The Komaki lectures are the most.comprehensive and clear-cut outline of Japan’s war aims since the famous Tanaka Memorial. They form, in fact, an extension of the Tanaka document covering particularly Japanese plans for extension of the Empire southward to Australia and New Zealand. Following is the first detailed summary of the lectures based on the full texts as monitored by the F.C.C, Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service and made available by the Office of War Information. Japan’s "New Order" In his fantastic introductory lecture, the only one from which excerpts have been printed in the United States, Komaki launched without preamble into a description of the world as Japan’s oyster. When he had finished defining the boundaries of the new "Asia," there was nothing left of the other five continents. * * * [Tt was in his fourth lecture that Komaki really got down to cases, Gloating over the fact that his country already had a virtual monopoly on rubber, hemp, peanut oil and other products, he outlined the methods by which Japan intends to control the world’s economy. The "Japanese Empire of Asia" can already supply all the rice needed by the entire world, he said, "and in the future under the surveillance of the Japanese, there will be still greater production." In the new economy, sugar production will be concentrated in Java, the Philippines and Formosa. Manchuria will grow all the beans needed in the world. India and China will supply the cotton. Japan, China and India together will have all the spinning machinery necessary to process this cotton. Australia and New Zealand, under Japanese direction. will continue to produce much wool, but their output will be supplemented by "the immense pastures in Manchoukuo, China and Mongolia, which until now have been serving the venison and fur markets." Komaki conceives of the world as a vast colony which will supply raw materials to Japan for manufacture and distribution, Said he, "Agriculture is the foundation of everything. . . . The surplus population from various sections of the world will be sent to Australia, to the corners of Southern Asia, and perhaps in the future to Africa and to the torrid zones of America for colonisation purposes. , , . All inhabitants of

the world will live in co-operation. All industrial or other undertakings will be carried out by the most suitable people in the most suitable locations. This is the mission which walks with Nature in the way of the Gods. .. ." New Zealand Isn’t Forgotten When Japan "returns" to Australia, she will develop its iron, coal, lead and zinc resources, as well as its production of rice, rubber, cotton. tobacco, coffee and tea. As for New Zealand, Komaki waxed almost lyrical when he. laid claim to it: "The natural beauty of New Zealand does not differ at all from that of Japan," he declared. Its latitude, corresponding with that of Japan in ,

the northern hemi- "" sphere, and its similarity to Japan in climate, are cited as proving that New Zealand "is more closely tied to Japan than to any other country" The Maori natives are said to be "very similar to the Japanese," because they possess "identical forefathers." The pre-destina-tion of New Zealand, in short, is to "go in step with Japan" "South of New Zealand to the southernmost tip of the Antarctic Ocean will extend the Japanese Ocean," the professor added. "To the east it will reach to South America, to the west to Africa. . . . Then we will build a domain for Japan ... as the centre of the world. . . . It will be a world of fortified peace." The "Greater East Asia Sea" Komaki’s final lecture is the most interesting of all, in that it contains detailed recommendations, many of which have subsequently been carried out by the Japanese military. Regarding India and Burma, Komaki told his Japanese listeners that "Food shortages in India were always ended by rice from Burma. . . . Most of the oil consumed in India is imported from Burma. Furthermore, the military importance of Burma is more than enough to control the main locations within India. The control of Burma means the collapse of British India. .. . The occupation of Burma is absolutely necessary to bring Britain and the United States to their destruction, .. . The advance of Japanese forces into Burma has the advantage of killing two birds with one stone, India, as well as Chungking." (The drive on Burma was just getting under way when these

statements were made late in February, 1942). Komaki did not even bother to mention the French Government of IndoChina when he said: "Saigon, the central city of the Mekong River plain, possesses qualifications to be a good port which might. be superior but not inferior to Shanghai." And Singapore will be "not only an important base of Japan’s Greater East Asia sea, but Japan’s outlet to the Indian Ocean, and a distribution centre for the Southern Pacific Ocean." The occupation of the Andaman, Nicobar, and Christmas Islands later in 1942 was foreshadowed by these statements of Komaki’s "South of Burma and west of the Malay Peninsula the Andaman and Nicobar islands form an outline for our military strategy. These islands form the centre of a natural barrier... Christmas Island is also an advance post .... these islands are a most important gate to Greater East Asia." Importance of Java and Sumatra The importance attached by Japan to the control of the Netherlands East Indies is made abundantly clear by Komaki: "Sumatra . . .. controls the ‘Malacca and Sunda straits. If these locatiéns are not captured, we cannot say that the fortification of Malaya is completed. . . . For the defence of Asia as well as for resources and raw materials, the future development of these points is eagerly looked forward to. ... Java will play an important part in the Greater East Asia economic policy. . . "Timor is located at the most suitable location from which to hop to or attack Australia. . . . The location of New (Continued on next page)

JAPAN’S GLOBAL CONCEIT

(Continued trom previous page) Guinea is such that it holds ‘Australia in its arms. Borneo . . . has rich oil and many other resources Manado, on the northern tip of Celebes Island, is an important military gate to the Pacific Ocean, along with Davao of the Philippines and Ternate of the Moluccas. East of Celebes are the extremely important Moluccas Islands. . ." And finally, Komaki assigned to the Philippines their place in Japan’s backyard: "The Philippine Islands’ . . . development by the United States was centred

on Luzon Island, around Manilla, However, the islands in the central part and Mindanao at the south also possess rich material resources." The purpose of Japan’s large settlement on Mindanao Island is frankly stated: "Mindanao is a geographically strategic location, being right across the Moluccas from Australia. Davao will be an important military base in the future to guard the southern areas."

The Pattern is Consistent Professor Komaki’s lectures may sound like the hallucinations of an insane jingoist, but the ideas he expounded come from roots which go deep into Japanese history, Japan’s dream of world conquest goes back at least to 1592, when General Hideyoshi invaded Korea. Hideyoshi’s forces finally met disaster when the Koreans met them with iron-clad gunboats, and Japan went into seclusion for over two centuries; but the gory old general remains to this day a national hero, The memorial supposedly offered to the Emperor by Prime Minister Baron Tanaka in 1927 was identical in many respects with Hideyoshi’s ambitions, "In order to conquer the world," wrote Tanaka, "we must first conquer China. If we succeed in conquering China the rest of the Asiatic countries and the South Sea countries will fear us and surrender to us. Then the world will realise that eastern Asia is ours and will not dare to violate our rights. This is the plan left to us by Emperor Meiji, the success of which is essential to our national existence." Komaki’s historic series of lectures was quite consistent with this statement of policy, except for the fact that Japan did not wait for the complete conquest of China before moving southward. Komaki spoke at.a time when Japan was glowing with over-confidence because of her successes in Malaya. Future historians may well rate the "Komaki Memorial" as the most significant document to come out of Japan during the war. }