JAPAN TO-DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26228, 12 August 1946, Page 4

JAPAN TO-DAY

ATTITUDE TO OCCUPATION NO SERIOUS FOOD SHORTAGE The reactions of the Japanese to defeat, to democratic elections, and to the occupation of their country by thenformer enemies were discussed by Captain J. I. Spedding, official correspondent and public relations officer with the New Zealand Occupation Forces, in a broadcast address last night. Captain Spedding, who comes from Dunedin, arrived in New Zealand from Japan last week. After dealing with the recent elections in Japan when 38 women were elected to the Diet, Captain Spedding spoke of the way the Japanese cities were quickly returning to their prewar activities. A Gay City Tokio for the American occupation forces was fast becoming the laugning city it was before the war, he said, and it was now the focal point for entertainments and amusements of all kinds. As more and more wives of American servicemen arrived in the city the social round was becoming both extensive and exciting. The city had some fine cinemas, there were cabarets on the great main shopping street, Shakespearean presentations were given, and there were regular concerts by the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra. According to the rank of their husbands the wives of servicemen were allotted accommodation near the Palace, and surplus army vehicles were being sold to American servicemen.

This did not apply to the British Commonwealth zone, Captain Spedding said. There, amenities and entertainments had had to be commenced from scratch. The Commonwealth area was wholly rural and lacked the entertainments and accommodation of the battered but still bright cities of the American zone.

In recent months, he continued, more and more sedans and coupes had been appearing in Japanese cities and there appeared to be no lack of “ black market ’’ .petrol. There was a flourishing and inevitable black market in Japan. Food was short in the main cities, but this was due to faulty distribution rather than to actual shortages. Farmers seemed to have plenty to eat and were not interested in going to markets to exchange their food for useless yen. There seemed to be no great reason why Japan could not be self-supporting. Capacity for Recovery

Captain Spedding said that he was surprised at the Japanese capacity for recovery. Seventy per cent, of thensteel industry and a great percentage of their machine tool industry seemed to be intact, and electricity and rail systems had scarcely been damaged at all. Workers in industry were taking a greater share in its control than hitherto. It seemed certain, he added, that Japan would outstrip China industrially. Lack of coal was one of the greatest handicaps Japan faced today. Turning to the Japanese attitude towards the occupation. Captain Spedding said that the occupation had been a benevolent one and the people were co-operating to the full extent. Before the arrival of the occupation forces, the Japanese people had been ordered to co-operate fully, and it seemed that they had the impression that the more they co-operated the shorter would be the occupation.