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JAPAN Enemy or Ally by W. Macmahon Ball An ASIA Book PUBLISHED UNDER THE JOINT AUSPICES OF THE INTERNA TIONAL SECRETARIAT, INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS, AND THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS. New York 1949 THE JOHN DAY COMPANY FIRST PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA, 1948 REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, NEW YORK, 1949 Printed in the United States of America by American Book-Stratford Press, New York INTRODUCTION BY NATHANIEL PEFFER MODERN JAPAN IS A VARIANT FROM NATIONAL type. It is in politics the equivalent of a biological sport. It conforms to nothing in the history of modern nations, whether European or Western, industrial or agrarian. Cer tainly in Eastern Asia its development has been unique, especially in the last hundred years. Alone it quickly per ceived what the impact of the West signified, perceived that the power of the West derived, not from superior weapons but from the economic and social system, mainly the techno logical development, that made it possible to produce supe rior weapons. Therefore, alone in Eastern Asia, so far from resisting Westernism, it deliberately resolved to adopt West ernism and set itself determinedly to making itself over on the Western model production by machinery, communica tion and transportation by the telegraph and telephone, railway and steamship, and universal education, military conscription and scientific research. Alone in Eastern Asia in recent centuries, it became a great political and military power and, just before its mad adventure in conquest, was competing on equal terms with the economically most advanced countries of the West. The adventure in conquest was suicidal as well as mad. For one thing, while Japan had performedalmost miracu vi Introduction lous feats ot transroruiatton, it had not yet arrived at the point where it could challenge the most powerful countries of the West with any hope of success. Its development was unbalanced, mainly top-heavy. It had renounced its earlier wisdom and spent its strength and substance in acquiring modern weapons before it had the social and economic structure that could support them, as was proved in the last two years of the war, when Japan became progressively more helpless, having the men with whom to fight but not the materials or the productive capacity or the technological capacity to provide the means with which to fight. The superstructure was Western and twentieth century the foundation was still Eastern and eighteenth century. Fur thermore, the same insensate ambition that drove it to conquest had aroused fear, suspicion and antagonism in the neighboring countries that otherwise might have been its natural allies. In its final hour of trial it stood helpless, friendless and alone. And thus it went down to defeat for the first time in its history, a defeat that carried humiliation, almost ignominy. Since then Japan has been not only a variant from type, not only unique there is an unreality in its conduct, some thing outside normal political psychology and political experience. It was a people of fierce warrior tradition, as recently as the battle for Okinawa faithful to the warrior rule victory or death. It was a people of frenetic chauvinism, conceiving its soil and its spirit not only with patriotism but in exaltation. No other people had so vivid a conscious ness of uniqueness, of separatism, if not actual xenophobia, however tacit. Then it isconquered and is occupied by the alien army that had crushed it, and its government taken over by the conquering country as completely as if it had been made a colony. The Emperor, till but the day before not only infallible but untouchable, immanent rather than mortally existing, calls on the enemy commander to pay his Introduction vii respects. A new constitution is written by the conqueror, a new polity instituted. The highest in the land are subject to supervision they report for orders, receive them with submissiveness and depart to execute them...