PACIFIC PROBLEMS

Southland Times, Issue 19823, 20 March 1926, Page 11

PACIFIC PROBLEMS

POSITION OF OUR JAPANESE ALLY. CONSULGENERAL INTERVIEWED. A different aspect of the Japanese population question from that usually presented to British people was outlined recently by Mr lyemasa Tokugawa (ConsulGeneral for Japan in Australia and New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Pacific Islands) in the course of an interview with a Dunedin Star representative. Mr Tokugawa has been connected with the Japanese diplomatic service all his life, and prior to taking up his present position was attached to the Japanese Embassy in London. “The question of population in Japan,” he said, “is not so serious as the food problem, and if the question of easy access of food materials is solved the situation will become much better. Even if relief to the congestion in another way was desirable, from the point of view of population, there is a far more important question—that of peace. Our nation has no desire to solve our domestic and economic problems by means of territorial expansion or the attainment of political ambitions. Pubic opinion in Japan would not support an aggressive method. In every country there are people who talk about the possibility of war. and so on, but they are a negligible and irresponsible minority.” VALUE OF INTERCHANGE OF VISITS. It was most important, he added, that the peace of the Pacific should be secured at all costs, and with that purpose all the nations bordering on that ocean, including Zealand and Japan, should be deter mined to co-operate for the attainment of that object; With regard to the recent visit of the American fleet, he would say that it was quite a nice thing for the navies of the different nations working in the same ocean to meet one another, if they could afford it. The Japanese navy had sent the training ship Iwate to visit New Zealand lately, and two years ago a training squadron of three ships had visited New Zealand waters. These interchange visits between navies were very desirable. Indeed, the advantage of all interchange visits between the peoples of such neighbouring nations must be admitted. Sometimes a commercial mission was sent from Japan to Europe and America, and sometimes conferences of different kinds took place. This year a Pacific scientific conference was to take place at Tokio, he understood, and men of learning from all the countries of the Pacific would gather. That ' kind of thing not only served the good purpose for which the conference was called, but it also gave the visitors a chance to see the country visited.

PEACE THE FIRST THING. Questioned upon the surplus population problem of his country, Mr Togukawa was not prepared to say a great deal. Population was increasing rapidly, he stated, and that was certainly one of the problems which Japan was facing. But economic questions, discussed in the light of the popular impression that Japan might take •ip an aggressive standing in regard to them, were liable to misinterpretation. All the countries bordering the Pacific should be determined to keep the peace; not one of these countries should be tempted to do anything to jeopardise peace and safety. Whatever was done, the nat’ons should be determined to keep the peace. This was the first thing needful if the question of population was going to be settled. “If this principle is followed, and the spirit well founded,” said Mr Togukawa, “whatever their requirements may be, those nations should not be tempted to resort to aggressive steps. That being so, even if we could send our surplus population to other lands, we wbuld not do it. Economic questions should be tackled in the light of the universal desire for peace which now exists.” Apart from this, he added, Japanese people’ were not desirous of leaving their own country. Japan had her own land where there was still ample room for settling down the surplus population. The people had formed a Jiome-loving tendency, and did not wish to go out of the country. That had been the trouble. But the food question had got to be solved. “NOTHING AGGRESSIVE.” JAPAN’S ATTITUDE IN PACIFIC.

Replying to further questions as to Japan’s position in the Pacific, Mr Tokugawa said:—“People ask themselves, sometimes, it seems, what Japan’s intentions in the Pacific really are; and some of them may even go so far as to talk about the possibility of Japan desiring to extend her territory by means of aggression. But I do not believe that the majority of the people in this part of the world have any such anxiety or apprehension. To me, the idea seems, indeed, ridiculous. However, dealing with the point just for the sake of argument. I might say that Japan, just like any other country, would have to defend herself if any pressure was brought upon her by way of attacking her own territorial integrity, or if Japan felt some menace to herself in consequence of any movement from outside on the Atlantic mainland. I would point out all the older wars in which Japan took part in the past were fought to defend her rights or interests; and her participation in the Great War was no exception to this rule, because Japan’s sea trade and shipping were largely endangered by the activities and aims of Germany. Japan also adhered faithfully to the stipulations of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and our whole nation was united in upholding the righteous Allied cause. All Japan’s past wars, as I have said, have been in defence of her own interests in the Far East, and there is nothing aggressive in her motives and policy. Further, now that the economic considerations —the industrial and commercial considerations—in relation to any possibility of war are getting to be more and more serious and pronounced, it. would be all the more fatal to Japan to undertake any aggressive measures against any other country. “Take the United States, for instance. Our export of silk to America heads the list of all our exports; and, just for the sake of argument again, it is obvious that any war with America, for example, would mean the complete breakdown of that important branch of our export trade. The same, I might say, applies in the case of other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, from which we take so much wool, and to which we sell so much silk goods. More recently speaking, moreover, our traditional friendship _ with Great Britain would never allow us to think of any grave complications between Japan and any member of the British Empire. The AngloJapanese Alliance brought the British and the Japanese nations into closer relations; but, I would point out, it was not the Alliance itself that gave birth to the friendship between us. It was, on the other hand, the friendship between the two nations that formed the foundation of the Alliance.

“Had we had any aggressive designs, I might be able to say—again just for the sake of argument—that we could have had no better opportunity of giving effect to them when Australia and New Zealand were so busy during the Great War in sending assistance to the seat of war in Europe. Japan could have intervened then, with tremendous effect against these dominions. But, as a matter of fact, as we all know, not only did Japan not do so, but to the utmost of her power she assisted in convoying your Australian and New Zealand troops to Europe, and otherwise helped the Allies in every way she could. But it seems to me ridiculous to talk on these lines, even for the sake of argument, as I have said. Since, however, you have asked me about the attitude of Japan in the Pacific, I have said what I have said, and it will no doubt help to clear up the anxieties and misapprehensions from the minds of those of your people—very few of them, if any, I am sure—to whom I have referred.” 1