JAPAN TO-DAY

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22111, 5 June 1937, Page 17

JAPAN TO-DAY

The March of Japan. By Edgar Lajtha. Robert Hale and Co. 288 pp. (12/6 net.) A Frenchman in Japan. By Maurice Dekobra. T. Werner Laurie Ltd. 224 pp. (10/6 net.) Mr Lajtha has written an extremely interesting book. A young Hungarian journalist, he visited Japan on behalf of several important Continental, newspapers, thus gaining information usually denied to the casual visitor. Not only does he give a comprehensive survey of present-day Japan its economic problems; he also presents the institutions and customs of the country with a clear insight into the character of the people. He describes the teeming commerce of this empire, explaining clearly how the Japanese can produce their goods so much more cheaply than the rest of the world. He shows the recent advances made in their administration and internal economy. Of special interest is the section of the book in which the author relates the achievements of this race in Manchukuo—a steady but peaceful conquest of a vast country essential to Japan’s expansion in the future. The magnificent photographs with which Mr Lajtha has illustrated his book cannot be passed by without notice. They serve to complete the written picture of Japanese life and ambition. M. Dekobra has evidently spent a very pleasant holiday in Japan, and in an entertaining book of reminiscences does not feel it necessary to present more than superficial aspects of Japanese life.