JAPANESE

Bed. in White

In discussing the German-Soviet war, "Gen­4!ral Winter" is much in evidence in theDecember issues of Japanese magllzineS'. Hereb the opinion of a specialist, S. Mori, inJik1/ok" JolLo: "In spite of a little news hereand there telling of small-scale German andFinnish actions on the northl:!rn front, it is afact that this whole front is firmly held bythe Red Army. Leningrad is also firmly inthe grip of its regular and citizen troops. Inother words the situation there is the same astwo months ago. Although the German Armyhad, in conspicuous style, smashed the StalinLine and mnde repeated attacks on Moscow,the rail of this Red Troy is not yet forth­coming. At the same time, the German sue­cess<!s in tho south of Russin llre great indeed.With the exception of the Don Basin, theentIre Ukraine is in German hands. Leningrad,however, is surrounded by deep fOl'osts, so thatsupplies could not be totally cut off.. " Theonset of winter is equally dangerous to bothwarring sides, but is felt more by the Germans,wbose motorized columns must be immobilizedby the freezing cold. The Russians are nowreaping the fruits of their insistence on cavalryand ski troops. But the remaining Sovietindustry is so weak that it can supply guerrillaactions only; it is certainly 110)'8 dB combat asfar as large-scale military action is concerned."

~ed8 in f'astnc8ses

Yabei Oha has laid aside his genE'ral'sunilorm and become instead a well-knownwriter with an output far above the averagein quantity. He is an adviser to the OsakaMain'ield, being at the same time an authorityon classical Chinese military philosophy. InNippon /-luornn he writes about problemswhich would have puzzled old Sun-tzu: "OnOctober 2 Germany, with two million men,started the general drive on MoscolV on afront of 400 kilometers, but owing to badweather and the strong resistance of the RedArmy the battle wavered to and fro. Theincredible resistance of a Bolshevist host thathitherto had been invariably beaten is ex­plained by the political and strategic conse­quences should Moscow fall. Stalin wantsthe Germans to toe the line Moscow-Rostov •..•The Red Army has the advantage of beingable to mnke use of the fortifications behindMoscow. After the great losses sustained bythe proletarian fighting forces, their success­ful resistance so far can only be understood8S a result of modern fortifications and Inndmines. By furiously counterattacking, theCommunist war machine is piling new losses

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on its old ones, and the German Army willtake advantage of these reckless sacrificesafter 6pring has set in. As Germany is outcompletely to destroy the Red military power,the challenging attitude adopted by the pro­letarian brigades de choe complies exactlywith what the Germans are after. So inspite of the delay in the general advanceof the swastika'd juggernaut, the potc7ltietd'uttaque of the German armies shouJd IIOt beuntJerrated. Germany seents to estimate theremaining strength of her world-l'evo)utional'yadversary us consisting of 100 divisions alltold; if she succeeds in destroying, by a warof attrition, fifty of these tJivisions aroundMoscow, she cnn easily deal with. the rest bydestroying them one by one. But will Hitler,after all, insist on a speedy attnck on Mos­cow? He recnlls that the repeatedly frus­trated attacks on Verdun were the principalreason for t.he German defeat in the lastworld war. So it is possible that the Fuhrer,with a wise shake of the head, will shift thescene ot battle to the south."

N ikvtaie u8ha

Japan's policy has found its most signif­icant expression in the term 7'oa-Kyoeikell(East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere) and in themore poetic Hakko-Iehiu (the people from theeight corners of the world living togetherunder one roof). An essential part of thisprogram is the settlement of Japanese farmersin Manchukuo. This "New Earth," whereChinese, Mongols, Mnnchus, and Japaneselive peacably together, might well be calledthe "melting-pot of the Fur East." Japanintends to settle one million families in Man­chukuo in four periods of five yeurs each.Already 100,000 have emigrated during thelast Ii ve years, and 220,000 more are going toleave Japan by 1946. These fal'mers knowtheir task will not be an easy onl', but theirwork on the rich Manchurian soli is of theutmost importance to Japan. The fact thatJapan is ready to learn from the experienceof other nations is shown by the interestingarticle on Nikolaievska by Major-GeneralYuaaa in Bungei Shun;u, one of the highofficials in the Manchukuo Government. InNikolaievska Russian settlers have created,with only thirty-six cows, twenty-two horses,and no cash at all, a small village which willsoon be at least self-sufficient. Since April1941, when the enterprise Was started, thesepeople have proved what can be done by hardwork and indomitable energy. The writerconcludes with admiration: "This village isthe expression of the spirit which creates a

158 , JAPANESE MAGAZINES

new order of human society and is a lessonfor us Japanese."

No Encirclillg GloomThe encircling gloom of the "ABeD Line"

docs not exist for S. Matsubara who, inNipPOl1 RYGron, unfolds a beatific vision,"Dream of Southern Lands," of how thingswill stand in the South Pacific in the fullnessof time: "Marvellous things are to be hadin the countries of the Southern Pacific ....There is teak wood, rubber, oil.... The seasare swarming with fish and crabs ...• TheJapanese language is spro?ading everywhere sothat we do not need to learn the idioms ofthe natives .... All the riches of the earth areconcentrated in the hands of the white men;we must win back, through fighting, thetreasures of the gods and, by tearing themfrom the robbers' hands, restore them tomankind .•.. At that time there will be fewhouses in Japan that have not sent two orthree of their sons into the lands of theSouth. He who today receives letters fromhis sons at Saigon will get a present fromhis daughter at Singapore tomorrow. In theevening the oldest son will be heard broad­casting from Batavia and. the next morning,son number two will be heard from Mel­bourne .•. , Fortunately in our schools the rightrelationship between human beings is taught,which is the basis of every colonial policy.As Japanese culture and law are highlydeveloped, the contact with other races willbe governed by respect and kindness. Notthrough British or Dutch but purely Japanesemetbods the 'Third Japan' will ba firmlyestablished in the Southern Seas."

Struggling SamuraiS. Okuno, in Kaizo, adds a new touch to

the vogue of analyzing Hitler's My Strugglein magadnes and pamphlets by comparingit with an old Japanese book, the Raoakure,a collection of maxims by the samurai Yama­moto Tsunetomo who served the Daimyo ofSaga, near Nagasaki. This samurai becamea Buddhist monk after the death of hisoverlord because at that time suicide afterthe death of one's chief had already beenforbidden. The maxims of this wistfulsamurai-priest were brought to paper about1710 by one of his disciples. "My St'ruoole isthe Hagakur' and the lIagakure is MyStrltOyl. Both books lay stress on uncondi­tionul self-surrender to the country, despisemere knowledge amI smile on the cautiousbourgeois attitude, praising instead courageand daring recklessness as high virtues. Bothbooks constitute an attack of idealism onmaterialism."

W hat Sacrifice?The words "8acri1ic~" and "unnecessary ex·

pen8e" are nev r so frequently heard as inwar time, and the question usually arises,"Where are the limits? What is really neces­sary and what is not?" Two essays in Kai::oreview this problem from different angles.

N.Okuma discovers interesting relations betweenthe new conception of life and the meaning of"sacrifice." Two features are characteristicof our new conception of life: we are part andparcel of the stat,(>. and, secondly, our nolionsare more constructhe and logical than theyhave ever been in the past. "When we say wewill complete our system of defense by sacri­ficing part of our national life. what part ofour liie is really the one that has to be thrownoverboard! Is it financial extravagance, irre­sonsibility, and decadence, or is it life itself,spirit, and talent? By sacrificing the latterthe state will suffer, but in the former caseit is only our habits which are hurt. There­fore it is important to draw a clear linebetween the two meanings of the term 'sacri­fice in war time.''' N. Nakajima, on the otherhand, thinks that modern Japan sometimesmakes the mistake of neglecting culturalmovements and even pleasures. "There arelimits to everything and man has to relax,especially during a war. It would be a greatmistake to put the screw on all pleasure. Iwould even say that the people absolutelyneed pleasure, but it should be animated by ahealthy spirit. like, for instance. Germany's'Strength through Joy' movement."

Prejudice Must Go"The perfection of our Defense State System

requires one fundamental condition, namelythat the whole nation be united in one or­ganization which gives everybody the possibi­lity of fulfilling his duties as a subject of theEmperor." says H. Shimomura in an articleentitled "Obstruction of our National Organi­zation" in 81l,lIfiei Shllnjlt. '"But Japan is stillfar from this ideal state of things. Thereare cases where a certain part of the nationhas been excluded from this organization"... and "there are Tonariuumi (neighborhood­associations) where a certain group of peoplehas been excluded and compelled to enteranother association where people of the samegroup live." This "certain group" stands forthe so-called "New Citizens" who receivedtheir name at the time of the Meiji Restora­tion. They are also known as Et.CJ.8 and theirorigin is rather obscure, but they are l:iupposedto be descendants of people who had theformerly defiling tasks of killing animals ortanninJt hides. As Japan has been a Buddhistcountry for more than a thousand yeurs.these outcasts lived "under the shadow ofdeath" from generation to generation, nndonly the abolition of the old feudal systemhas finally changed their condition. Hardlyseventy years separate modern .Japan from thefeudal age and its class distinctions. It istherefore only natural that this prejudiceshould still exist here and there. But modernJapan does not tolerate anything that mighttend to hamper the development of its na­tional unity. The writer ends with thecourageous words: "There is nothing worseand nothing more obstinate than evil customsof olden times. We have to examine ourselvesand do our part in stamping out such evils."-P.