HIROHITO SPEAKS TO JAPANESE DIET

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 210, 5 September 1945, Page 5

HIROHITO SPEAKS TO JAPANESE DIET

CALL FOR SERVICE

No Reference Made To

Surrender

N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 11.30 a.m. TOKYO, Sept. 4. The Emperor Hirohito, opening an extraordinary session of the Diet, called on the Japanese people to "surmount the manifold hardships and trials attending the termination of the war, make manifest the innate glory of Japan's national policy, win the confidence of the world and devote ourselves to reconstruction in every field."

He did not once use the word "surrender," but referred throughout to the "termination of the war" and the "cessation of hostilities."

Hirohito said he had directed his Ministers of Ststte to explain the foreign and domestic conditions and the course of events that had led to his "extraordinary measure." He called on all Japanese to unite in service to the State with greater zeal than ever. ,

The Lower House immediately adopted a reply expressing appreciation for the efforts exerted by the officers and men of the Imperial forces, as well as the endeavours on the home front. The session lasted only 25 minutes.

A member of the Diet, Yukio Ozaki, aged 88, speaking before the session opened, declared that the complete overhauling of education was necessary to impress upon the people the laws of humanity and the difference between right cind wrong.

Criticism of Diet Ozaki, who has long been critical of Japan's aggression, lashed out at the Diet itself as being far short of a constitutional Government. He added that in his opinion the atomic bomb was necessary to revert the people's existence to past righteousness.

The House of Peers resolved "to acknowledge the reality of our defeat and cut a way cut of the present situation," reports the Associated Press correspondent in Tokyo. The Peers decided to embark upon a new course of national rebuilding with a view to safeguarding the ageold national structure and contributing to world peace so that His Majesty's mind may be put at rest. Tokyo radio reported that the 88th Imperial Diet formally opened to-day in the presence of the Emperor. The opening session concluded swiftly. General Mac Arthur overruled a Japanese Foreign Office order that Allied correspondents attending the opening session- would be searched at the door and could not smoke or drink inside the building.

"The Government Cheated Us" Baron Reijiro Wakatsuki, a member of tfte House of Peers and a former Japanese Prime Minister, in a speech, said: "The Japanese Government cheated us at the outset of the war because it told us we had more strength than we actually had. We wanted to fight the United States at the"start of the war. Everyone then believed in victory, but now we have no guns, no aircraft and no men so we must accept the Potsdam Declaration. We gave money and food for war, but as the years passed we grew weaker. All we now have to sh'ow for these sacrifices is the shame of our defeat."

Hirohito motored to the Diet in a maroon-coloured sedan. All upper storeys of buildings along the route were curtained to prevent his subjects looking down on the Emperor. Only Japanese flags flew in Tokyo.