Dilemma in Japan

The author of this book believes that certain Americans and Englishmen favor a peace formula for Japan which will provide only for a temporary truce. Just as German militarists and their industrial supporters were left in power after the First World War, in the same manner these men would leave the Japanese Emperor and his imperialist partners off control of Japan after this war. Believing that most Americans want permanent peace in spite of the cost, Mr. Roth provides a forceful analysis of the alternatives which face us—and the Japanese people.

He shows first what we can expect from a defeated Japan if we follow this expedient but short-sighted policy of leaving the government in the hands of the so-called “moderates.” He points out that such a procedure would rule out the reconstruction of Japan on a democratic basis, for it would maintain in power the leading industrial giants, the Zaibatsu, of whom the greatest is the Emperor. These, combined with the semi-feudal landlords, of whom Hirohito is also the leader, have always followed a policy of economic imperialism, whether by means of military conquest or by the subtler methods of the “moderates.”

This book is an honest warning by a keen analyst of Far Eastern affairs. We must realize before it is too late that we are headed toward disaster if we court the status quo in Japan. Here it is clearly demonstrated that a policy of appeasing the “moderates” can only end at another Pearl Harbor.