Japan, Twenty Years after Surrender

Abstract

In the spring of 1941 when the United States and Japan were engaged in negotiations in the hope of settling the issues which threatened to embroil them in war, Matsuoka Yosuke, then Foreign Minister, sent a telegram to Ambassador Nomura in Washington. He instructed the ambassador to convey to the American leaders the notion that it would be futile for the two countries to go to war. Matsuoka wanted to tell President Roosevelt and others that the United States would not gain anything by fighting Japan because, in his words, if America could make Japan surrender, and enforce a cruel treaty upon the Japanese people that might be comparable with the Versailles Treaty, Japan would break off such fetters or bonds within thirty years. The year 1965 marked the twentieth anniversary of Japan's surrender. It is true that in 1945 a cruel peace was not imposed, but even taking this into consideration one is compelled to make the judgment that during these two decades Japan has clearly made remarkable progress. Today no physical reminders of the grim days of 1945 remain; the rubble and burned-out shells of structures which dotted the landscape of the big cities have been replaced by modern office buildings, high rise apartments, and freeways. Japan's progress, moreover, is all the more remarkable when compared with the lack of it in many parts of Asia. Although changes have occurred in almost every sector of Japanese life, perhaps the most notable progress has been achieved in the economic field. Here the legacy of industrial know-how and economic organization, plus large-scale American aid, both direct and indirect, were undoubtedly important factors; but an indispensable element was the willingness of the Japanese people to work hard and plan and save for the future. In 1965 the Japanese were able to boast that their country had become the world's largest shipbuilder, was second in watch making, third in steel production, and fourth in the manufacture of automobiles. In terms of per capita national income, Japan had come abreast of some of the Western European nations. There were many visible indications of this achievement. Today one family in eleven in Tokyo owns a car and this statistic is reflected in smog and enormous traffic jams. Other visible signs of affluence are trains filled