The Waikato Times SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 1943. JAPAN REALISING DANGER

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22152, 25 September 1943, Page 4

The Waikato Times SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 JAPAN REALISING DANGER

Japan has been shaken by recent Allied successes in the Pacific. That is clear from the warning issued by General Tojo, the measures taken by the Japanese Government to increase the national effort and. more significantly, to prepare evacuation and other defensive measures in Japan itself. Tojo declared that in spite of their own heavy losses the Allies were attempting to force the Japanese Empire to its knees by fresh offensives. Probably the common Japanese people do not know that these offensives are only in their preliminary stages and that the “heavy losses” of the Allies are infinitessimal by comparison with the resources now becoming available. It should be remembered that the Japanese, ignorant in themselves and carefully isolated from world opinion by suppression, have an outlook far different from that of most other people. It is part of the military clique's policy to ensure that they remain blindfolded. It is wise also to remember that on numerous occasions the Allied leaders found it necessary to warn their people of the gravity of the situation and to call for an ever-increasing effort. It is reasonable for the Japanese leaders to do the same, and it may be that the Japanese will become stronger enemies as a result. But the great difference is this: The Allied leaders knew that they had almost unlimited resources at hand and that only increased human effort was necessary to develop an overwhelming war potential. Japan’s tragedy is that her resources are strictly limited. Increased endeavour by the people can certainly result in enhanced military strength, but with limitations. Japan must import most of her essential materials. Her conquests have given her access to many requirements, but her shipping resources are only a fraction of those of her enemies. Japan is beginning to recognise that she has taken upon her shoulders a terrifying task. Such confidence as she has apparently maintained in the past 18 months has been due to two factors. The Allies have been concentrating upon the defeat of Germany and Italy first and have been preparing the groundwork for later offensives in the Pacific. Therefore their counters to the Japanese have not yet been outstandingly impressive. The Japanese probably have thus gained a palpably false impression of the potential Allied strength. The ghastly truth is beginning to register itself in Tojo’s mind and he is stirring the Japanese to action accordingly. He can see outside the Japanese sphere of conquest the shaping of the strategy of the United Nations. General MacArthur’s steady encroachment, the formation of Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-east Asia command and the deployment of powerful naval and air forces poised for attack are all indications of things -to come.