Nice People, the Japanese!

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 23, 18 November 1938, Unnumbered Page

Nice People, the Japanese!

ttalian Secret Service Agent Strips Away Smiling Mask From Face ot Ruling Caste

"DO NOT SMILE AT THESE _DECLARATIONS," HE SAID. "THE GODS DO NOT LIE. THE DESTINY OF JAPAN . HAS BEEN OUTLINED BY THE GODS. NOTHING CAN STOP JAPAN FROM BECOMING THE GREATEST EMPIRE ON © EARTH."

Behind the smiling mask and outward politeness of -the ruling Japanese mili"tary caste lies a mind at ‘once ruthless and terrible. "He. wears Western gar- . ments, drives Western cars, -makes Western guns .. . : and still has his Eastern mind. He is a barbarian devoid of morality playing with tools of annihilation. He has suites of modern offices in Manchukuo, where clients of all nations can buy girls, one or 100, After the conquest of China he aims at the con- _ quest of India, Australia and New Zealand. He calls himself the Son of the Gods, he sees Japan becoming the greatest Empire on earth.

HITS j is the damning indietment of Japanese Imperialism by an italian, Amleto Vespa, oncé in , the. Seeret Service of Japan. tle is still a -loyal Fascist and "rdent admirer of Mussolini. He W 1s once an ardent admirer of the gunese, ‘vt in his "Secret Agent of eauan," just off the presses of "tctor:’Gollanez, London, he sirips away the sham mask of civilisation. from the ruling caste of Japan and shows the grim features ot..truth. "I, who had thought the Japanese chivairous and noble," says Vespa, "was face to face with the frightful reality." ORN in Aquila, Italy, in 1888, . Amleto' V espa, at the age of 22, found his way into the ranks of the revolutionary army of Mexico’s General Franciseo Madera. ‘He left Mexieo in. 1912. and . travelled America, Australia, and China as‘a journalist. Four. years. later he .was em. ployed -by the Intelligence Service of the Allied Powers in China because of his expert knowledge of that country. In 1920. Vespa joined the service of Chang Tso-lin to become a real power in the backstage politics of Manchuria

To this end he changed his nationality from Italian to Chinese, After Marshal Chang’s as-: sassination in 1928, Author Vespa turned to commercial undertakings in Manchuria until he fell under the dominance of the Japanese in their conquest of 1932, By the simple method of ‘threatening the safety of his family, Vespa was blackmailed into the service of Japan as a ‘secret agent, a unique position from which to view the "colonising" methods, the venality and the viciousness of his new masters. Believing him absolutely in their power, his Japanese masters frankly talked to him of their future plans. HE whole Orient, the Japanese Secret Service leader told Vespa, is our sphere of influence and must fall under our econtrol. Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia and.before long China and Siberia as ."T

far as Irkutsk will all form one single Empire, the Empire of Japan, governed by.our great Hmperor; the only Emperor who can truly be called heavenly, since he is a descendant of the Sun Goddess and all the Japanese are sons of gods. The Japanese are the only divine people on earth; that is the reason why they never try to mix with other people. Our culture is sacred, and likewise sacred is everything Japanese. We have no intention of impariing our civilisation ta the, people whom we have conquered or shall conquer. They will simply disappear. The Koreans will be eaten by vices; the Chinese wil! be the victims of opium and other narcotics; the Russians will be ruined by vodka. They will all be annihilated. The second phase, said the Secret Service leader, calls for the conquest of India and of all the islands in the Pacific; also Siberia as far as the Ural region. "

No wonder then that Vespa says the nations of the world are committing a most terrible mistake in dealing with the Japanese as though they were a _ civilised people; that is a grievous error, and one likely to prove catastrophic in its consequences. Only when Japan has shaken off its barbarian institutions and got rid of the inhuman military clique that rules it, from the Bmperor down, says Vespa, will it be entitled to take its place among civilised nations. It is a horrible thing to contemplate these hordes of barbarians (Turn over page.)

NICE PEOPLE, THE JAPANESE!--- cont. from Page 1.

armed with modern implements of destruction, running wild and playing hayoe among peaceful, defenceless people. "I, who had thought that the Japanese were chivalrous, that they were a noble and generous people, now saw that this had been a mirage and it had vanished into nothingness. I was face to face with the frighiful reality. "THE WOLF HAD SHED HIS SHEEPSKIN; THE MASK HAD FALLEN, REVEALING THE JAPANESE AS THEY REALLY ARE; A_ SAVAGE PEOPLE, CRUEL he WITHOUT FEEL"A people totally devoid of morality, diabolically indifferent to the suffcrings of others; a people that. undertook the destruction and annihilation of millions of human beings without one atom of compunction, a horde of barbarians whom the world had helped to arm. "And their incredible’ arrogauce in calling themselves "Sons_ of the Gods!" VESPA talked with another Japanese State official who told him frankly of their aims in the Rast. "We have conquered Manchuria by foree of arms," he told Vespa, "and all the prattle of the League r

is not going to make us give it up. Why should the world raise so much fuss over Manchuria? Bunch of fools. What are they going to say when we occupy China, Siberia, the Philippines, Indo-China? "They will see... they will see how Japan will surprise them .. . a nice surprise for everybody; for Russia... for ‘America ... for France... for Holland ... and for our dear old Lady England. There is going to be plenty to do for the League of Nations ... it will have its hands full sending Commissions of Investigation to all those countries which we are going to occupy!" A United China, 10 years from now, said the official, would not buy a dollar’s worth of Japanese goods. ... The Chinese manufacture everything ... everything... from toys to guns and munitions. Ten years from now China would be producing everything which Japan sells to her now; not only that, but she would be selling Japan her products, she would .compete with Japan with her cheapest. of cheap labour, who ure paid even Jess than the miserable wages paid to Japanese operatives. "if Japan does not decide to adopt military dictatorship," the Japanese official told Vespa, "to. shoot hundreds of idealists, pacifists, dangerous idiotic agitators » » » our country is Jost. We must conquer China now. Each year that goes by is making the task more difficult, and if we wait too long it will become impossible." Onty by controlfing the natural Yesources of Chima conld Japan. emecwts te vast programme of in-

creasing its Army and Navy to the point where it would be able to impose its will on the world and expand its empire in the way it planned. "Once Japan controls China we can go after Siberia, IndoChina, the Philippines, India, New Zealand and Australia, whenever we wish. Without China, the Japanese will have to retire to their island and live on fish." N Harbin, Vespa found the monopoly whieh controlled the importation of Japanese girls. It had opened its offices in an 11-room suite on Torgovaya Street. There was a director, a vice-director, a secretary and some 20: employees.

The offices were at the disposal of everybody without any distinction of race or nationality. One could leave an order for 100 girls or for one only. One could order «girls for the Mahiyai, or high-class prostitute establishments; or for the ordinary Jaroya of the common becple; or geishas for the cafes, cabarets, and so on. The entrance to the Monopoly offices is guarded by Japanese gendarmes. AS a prospective customer enfers, he is received by a neatly-dressed secretary who leads him to one of the several rooms, elegantly furnished in semi-Euro-pean style. Here the client expresses his wishes as to how many girls he wants, and for what kind of establishment. He is then taken to a large room where he is shown

large albums containing photegraphs and descriptive notes of the girls, buch as: virgin or not, tall or short, thin or fat, education, accomplishments, singing, playing, dancing, ete. Once the selections have been made the bargaining begins, and goes until an agreement is arrived at as to price and duration of contract. This done, the client pays 25 per cent. on account. Fifteen to 20 days later the client receives notice from a bank that the girls have arrived and are ready ta be delivered upon payment of the 75 per cént. balance. From that moment on the girls are the absolute and tndisputable property of the contractholder who can do anything he wishes with them and exploit them as he sees fit. T the same time money-money-is the god of the Japanese. Corruption flourishes

among Japanese officials. Vespa tells of the method. Nikolai WNikolaievich Yaghi, a Japanese who had "embraced" the orthodox religion, and who was the first "high adviser" to the Central Police Bureau, paid 50,000 dollars to the Japanese Military Mission pid the privilege of holding his ob. In two years’ time Yaghi was the owner of several valuable properties and had over 300,000 dollars in the bank. The job that brought in the most money to its holder was that of "high adviser" to the Criminal Police. A Japanese named Eguchi who occupied that post for three years, amassed a vast fortune, The whole book gives point to a remark by Iris Wilkinson, well-known New Zealand writer, that New Zealand is more concerned with what happens in the East than in Europe.