History of "The Mita Campus" Chapter I. (1946 -
1950)
sustained for more than
40 years after the World War II until its recent suspension The members of Mita Campus Club Alumni Association are
now planning the Resumption of the Journal as an international forum for Keio
students, its faculty members, alumni as well as everybody else who realize the
need for such a forum and committed to the promotion of the spirit of self-help
and independence extolled by Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of the academy.
These Annals of "THE MITA CAMPUS" is a story of an
English language Journal started after
Japan's defeat in the Second World War surrounded by the ruins and devastation
witnessing the collapse of the old regime, morals, systems and conventions
either written or else a group of students of Keio University, the oldest
western-type educational institution in Japan and which followed the postwar
vicissitude of not only the academy, student life but also the entire Japanese
society.
<
The First Publication - August 1946>
August 15, 1945 marked the Defeat of Japan
in the Second World War which was the pivotal turn of her history resulted in
the loss of the orientation of the people, but simultaneously it gave the
opportunities to the people to voluntarily and aggressively create and pursue
something new for their future yet unforeseeable.
In such a chaotic condition, a group of
Keio students led by the late Susumu Oya, a class of 1950 Law- major, and
coincidentally a member of Keio English Speaking Society, published its first
issue of " the Mita Campus" (An English journal contributed, edited
and circulated by the students) in August 1946 one year after Japan's
acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration the journal somehow wriggled through the
censorship then imposed by GHQ (General Headquarter of the Allied Occupation
Forces of Japan).
1946 was probably one of the most volatile
year for Japan as the occurrences such as "Give Us Rice" Processions
of the under-nourished Tokyo populace in May of that year. The opening of the Far East Military Tribunal
to try the former Japanese leaders for war crimes, the late Emperor Showa's
Renunciation of Imperial Deity and the proclamation of the controversial New
National Constitution.
The people of the vanquished Japan was
aimlessly wandering about listening to the Amateur Singers Contests of NHK, the
public radio broadcast, and off-the-key tunes of "Air of an Apple"(
Ringo no Uta ) hummed by the unemployed filled the devastated city streets.
Inevitably the ladies of world's oldest
profession appeared on the street, and hot-blooded naval air cadets dismissed
without completing the training at the close of the hostilities which
exasperated them because of the loss of whatever earthly prospects and the
chance of joining the deity after honorable death in a Kamikaze mission, fought
each other viciously on streets committing unimaginable acts of violence.
Food shortage sent city dwellers to
countryside for making illegal purchase of foods from the enterprising farmers
despite police cordon put up on trains and stations.. The black markets were inundated with toxic
moon-shines known as ”Kasutori" (odious smelling unlicensed brews from
lees and other concoctions including synthetic methyl alcohol which frequently
caused the loss of eye sight or even death. )
As mentioned above, in August 1946
"The Mita Campus" made its debut into such an unstable and chaotic
confusion in the aftermath of defeat and devastation . The first issue carried
the pictures and articles with diverse titles such as "Democracy",
"Future Missions of Japanese Women", "Peaceful Student
Life" and others which symbolized the ideals pursued by the youth of the
"Japan Reborn " were haphazardly strewn over all pages as if trying
to put the writers' personal experiences of the war in some sort of order by
exposing them publicly in chaotic manners.
The ensuing issues featured the mottoes of
Yukichi Fukuzawa, who in 1858 founded
the school which became the predecessor of Keio (ten years before the
restoration of the emperor into power with the abdication of Tokugawa
Shogunate).
Fukuzawa was one of the earliest "
Enlightenment Promoters" in Japan. He
originally worked for Tokugawa regime as a Dutch interpreter (Netherland
was the only European country then allowed to do some limited trade with Japan
and Japanese nationals were allowed to learn Dutch language. ) after attending "Tekijuku" - a
medical school in Osaka opened by Koan Ogata, the earliest master of western
,medicine in Japan with the illustrious clientele including Shoguns.
In 1858 Fukuzawa opened a small school
(Rangakujuku) in Tokyo and taught various subjects in Dutch. In 1865, the
school was re-named as "Keio Gijuku" where English became the medium
of instruction.
After observing the dominance of British and
American merchants and ubiquitous use of English language in the fast growing
international port of Yokohama, Fukuzawa realized that the English language is
becoming the major means of communication for
science and technology and all branch of practical and academic
activities and personally mastered it studying the language with his colleague
through Dutch text books and in one or two years he was able to read the
Michael Faraday's theory of electricity and magnetism in English. In 1860 he joined Shogunate Government's
Goodwill Mission to the United States as an interpreter - junior staff and
delighted to buy a copy of Webster dictionary in San Francisco. He visited the
U.S. again in 1865.
As all Enlightenment Promoters had to do,
he gave lessons on diverse subject to Japanese students at Keio using English
text books. He wrote many books on world geography and Foreign countries as
well as on how to study the subjects new to Japan. He also contributed
innumerable articles to many newspapers and journals.
Keio graduates filled the managerial
positions of newly established private business enterprises as well as of
government organizations. In 1890, the President Elliot of Harvard University
sent three youthful faculty members to Keio to head the newly established
faculties at the school. Such mottoes included the popular saying such as
"The Almighty created the people neither above other people nor below
them". or "A man without the spirit of independence never has genuine
patriotism. "
The articles the students contributed to the
first issue of the Mita Campus were more of essays covering political, social
cultural and art issues, rather than news reports. The authors' names were
prominently presented at the end of each article.. The students were aware of
the censorship by GHQ and even though they were youthful opinions contrary to
the hackneyed war-time views, some amount of cautions had to be exercised by
those who had more worldly experiences. ( Now we hear that there were internal
bickering and deeper animosities inside GHQ's political factions concerning the
policies on exercising the censorship and the educational reform.)
According to Yukio Sueyoshi,
(Economics-major, Class of 1972, one of the past Mita Campus chief editor and
the undisputed custodian of everything related to the Mita Campus ) who
initiated the compilation of these annals single-handedly, the late Professor Eiichi
Kiyooka, a Keio alumni as well as one of its faculty members and Fukuzawa's
nephew, who had spent several years in U.S. graduate schools checked the
overall contents of the students' articles to correct grammar, phraseology, and
possible unnecessary frictions. Mr. Shinichi Hasegawa, a member of Mita Shimbun
(Keio's Japanese language journal) who, after graduation, joined English
language "Nippon Times" (currently "The Japan Times") after
graduation from Keio, provided the type-setting and editing know-how pro vono.
The students sold two thousand copies of the first issue in three days in Ginza
mostly to American G.I.s.
The third issue was released in December
1946 with the vastly improved appearance, and contents of articles as a regular
chronicle. The first page carried the photo of the University Library in Mita
Campus which showed the exposed and twisted steel girders and re-bars of the
building damaged by the air raids of the allied forces together with two-page
account of the damages sustained by the facilities of colleges and university
in Japan due to the war. Keio had lost, 50% of the total floor area of the
academic facilities at three campuses (i.e. Mita- law, economics,
literature, Yotsuya-medicine and Hiyoshi- art.(a major portion of
Hiyoshi Campus had been used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the war and
the Allied Occupation Forces took it over immediately when the war ended in
August 1945 until August 1949. Keio had not acquired Koganei campus - science
and engineering b y this time.)
The Keio facilities were damaged in the
hostilities and the actually usable floor area at the end of the war was only
one-third of what was available at the start of the war. The loss Keio suffered was said to be equivalent
of 16 million yen in pre-war CPI.
The article mentioned above emphasized the
financial predicament of private schools which was exacerbated by the
dissolution of ZAIBATSU groups which had been the major sources of the
contributions to them imposed by the allied occupation forces authority, and
strongly appealed the necessity of the government subsidies.
The pages three and four of this third
(December 1946) issue carried the articles on art and culture, extra curricular
activities, sports events. They covered the report on then numerous English
speech contests and the YMCA meetings. Several photos of the baseball match
against Waseda University were there. They covered the views of the refurbished
Jingu Baseball Stadium.
Keio sent Oshima, the south-paw to the
mound while Okamoto pitched for Waseda
to the last game of 1946 Autumn Season of the Six College Baseball
League was which was concluded by Waseda's 2-0 win over Keio which put Waseda
on the top of the league while Keio had to be content with the second place.
At that time "the Mita Campus"
was sold for two yen a copy. The student editors, staffs and contributors were satisfied with their
accomplishments despite chronic torment of the acute hunger due to nation-wide
food shortage. Their stomachs were empty but they continued mental nibbling of
the grotesque loaves of bread made of the fresh dough named ”New Japan"
which seemed to have unfathomable development potentials .
< 1947>
On May 3, 1947, the new National
Constitution of Japan was proclaimed and immediately enforced. followed by the
May 24 inauguration of the cabinet led by Premier Katayama, the first ever
Socialist regime in Japan's history of party- based politics which is generally
considered to have commenced around the end of 1880s seeking the introduction
of the parliamentary government system which materialized in 1890.
On
the other hand, GHQ, of which occupation policies were becoming more
adversarial to the increasingly more socialistic tendencies of the labor unions
and the society in general, ordered the suspension of the general strike
planned for February 1st of the year by the National Confederation
of Labor Union's (Soohyoo) mainly in search of increase in the rationed food,
which was considered to be undemocratic and inhumane intervention of the almighty
Occupation Forces into the plea of the hungry people. which was contrary to the
principles repeatedly preached by GHQ.
What relieved the people even temporarily
from the ever-hanging dismalness of being the defeated under-dog was the new
world swimming records set by Hironoshin Furuhashi nicknamed "Fujiyama no
Tobiuo - The Flying Fish of Fujiyama" at international races.
Boogie-woogie, the American negro tune
entered Japan most likely by G.I.s. A complete new comer to the literary world,
Taijiro Tamura, published his first story
"Seishun no Mon"(Gate to the Adolescence) full of sensuality
(neighboring a pornography) of young men and women liberated from traditional
inhibition thanks to the defeat in the war which captured large audiences.
The new compulsory education for the total
period of nine years, i.e. six years of elementary school and three years of
junior high school was inaugurated. ( Heretofore,
the total period of compulsory education in
Japan was for eight years.) Despite such
changes, the majority of people had to
suffer extremely impoverished material life. They had to sell their clothing,
utensils, furniture, antiques and whatever could be dispensed with to buy food
on black market. Usually respectable business operators diverted their wares
and services to black markets from the distribution routes assigned to the
licensed rationing thus further reduced the supplies to the ordinary citizens
without connection to black market. .
New religious sects appeared to soothe the
people of their anxiety caused by inadequate
food and other necessities of life, social
instability and overall degradation, absence of any decent prospect of
improvement of the quality of life etc, etc.
Under such circumstances, the Mita Campus
in its second year (1947) of existence inevitably got involved in various
issues in numerous sectors of Japanese society trying to reorganize/reconstruct
themselves.
For instance, with the introduction of the
new nine-year compulsory education, the issue of "the Equal Opportunity of
Education For All" and the concerns over the management and control of
university administration led to lively arguments on the Mita Campus on themes
such as appropriate organizational and operational structures., the procedure
of the election and appointment of the CEO of a private educational
institution, and students' participation in the control and management of the
administration of a university.
At Keio, the oldest western-type private
educational institution in Japan, which includes an elementary school,
secondary schools, university undergraduate courses and the graduate schools
capable of awarding doctors' degrees there is an single individual entitled
"Jukucho" (head of the school) at the top as the symbolic leader of
all academic activities as well as CEO for the entire Keio,. an educational
corporation.
Currently "Jukucho" is elected by
the board of directors whose members are selected by vote by the alumni. the
members of faculty and administrative staff. By tradition
"Jukucho"" is appointed from the members of the university
faculties. Back in 1947, when all drastic reorganizations were in fashion
throughout the entire society, setting up the system to appoint such an officer
to bear the ultimate responsibility and highest authority was a grave matter
worthy of most intensive discussion..
Another issue hotly debated was the
participation of the university students in the
management of administration of the
university. However the discussions over this last issue moved on to the debate
over the reform of the university's administrative systems and practices, and
the subject of students' participation in management of the administrative
activities gradually lost the momentum and not pursued further in its original
form.
One of the 1947 issues of the Journal featured
the interview with a newly appointed "Jukucho" entitled "Students'
Political Commitment Should be Readily Admitted in Democratic Japan". The
same issue carried a comprehensive article on the national Diet (parliament)
Election in May 1947 providing the extensive coverage of the prospects of the
contests and the explanation on the newly adapted procedures etc.
Notable incident of 1947 for Keio was the
90th anniversary of its founding and the Emperor's attendance at the
Commemoration Ceremony on the school campus.
The Mita Campus published a special issue
for Keio's 90th Anniversary which covered the personality and
achievements of the Fouder Yukichi Fukuzawa, and collections of the letters
sent home by an American faculty member who greatly contributed to the founding
of the Law Department, described the academic atmosphere of Keio then
prevailing and the ideals on education expressed by Fukuzawa personally. These
letters became the good source of information on the relationship between
Fukuzawa and Keio viewed by a foreigner who participated in one of Keio's most
prominent activities at that time.
The Editor of the May 1947 issue recounted
the founder's views on the topic such as "Spirit of Independence",
"Scholarship and Utilitarianism" and "the Government for
Peoples' Welfare " and proposed that
these ideals should be analyzed and reorganized to fit the requirements
of "Japan Reborn after Defeat" on the occasion of 90th
Anniversary by each of Keio students on individual basis through participation
in the activities of "the Mita Campus".
June 1947 issue extensively covered the
late Emperor Hirohito's visit to Mita Campus and His Majesty's Attendance at
the 90th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony.
His Majesty stated that the Imperial Visit
created memorable impressions of the host institution and wished that Keio
students would strive to reconstruct and revitalize the
education at private institutions. His
Majesty also expressed his profound satisfaction in witnessing the great
contributions Keio Gijuku made to the development of the many facets of Japan's
cultural achievement over the past 90 years.
In the same June 1947 issue, a London Daily
Telegraph reporter who covered these occasions contributed an article based on
his personal impression on His Majesty's visit to Keio which mentioned
"from the demeanors of the Emperor and the members of the
Imperial Household in attendance, it was
easily perceptible that His Majesty was personally devoted to promote the
course of his "Deity Renouncement
Proclamation" making positive efforts.
Yet in the same issue, the news of the
masquerade procession and dance parties organized by the students for the
occasion were prominently presented with excessively light, festive air which
was inappropriate, or at least off-balance, as they were incongruous with the
reports on the Imperial visit which were accorded due respect, reserve and
modesty fitting the monarch then still persisted. Some alumni questioned
"Is this the result of the Post-war Democratization?"
(Yukio Sueyoshi notes that up to the fourth
issue, the publisher of "Mita Campus" was
"Keio English Speaking Society -
KESS". Also thanks to the initiative displayed by
Professor Mikio Hiramatsu at the
International Center, the costs of overseas distribution of the journal were
paid for by the school authorities starting 1947)
<1948>
In this year, the Far East War Crime
Tribunal handed down the final verdicts on the defendants which included the
execution (by hanging) of seven defendants including General Hideki Tojo and
the remaining 16 prisoners were sentenced to incarceration for life. or shorter
period.This was generally accepted by the as one of the exercises required to
conclude the hostilities and and the proof of the "Democratization".
On January 26, almost immediately after the
New Year's Holidays, there occurred "Teigin Jiken - Teigin
Incident". "Teigin" is
the name of a bank formed by the Yokohama Species Bank (the Bank of Tokyo) and
the Mitsui Bank in war time by a government order to concentrate on war
efforts. On that day, a Japanese man claiming himself to be a staff of medical
branch of GHQ - Allied Occupation Force produced grass containers full of what
looked like some serum to the Staff at the bank's Higashi- Nagasaki Branch
(near Ikebukuro, Tokyo) telling the bank staff he was visiting the places where
people congregate to administer oral inoculation against some contagious
disease. GHQ's name was the open-sesame then and the bank staff took the serum.
In a matter of minutes they were hit by acute stomach ache and some died. The
man took off with some cash from the till.
After a several months, police apprehended
Sadamichi Hirasawa (1892 - 1987) a Tempera painter of some repute as a prime
suspect. Hirasawa kept denying the charge but was judged guilty and sentenced
to death by hanging. The appeal trial also confirmed the original verdict.
Meantime, several groups appealed for the thorough re-investigation and
re-trial on what were alleged as new evidences. The execution was postponed for
one reason or another for more than 30 years as the successive Legal Ministers
dragged their feet and failed to issue the final order. Finally the suspect
expired due to natural course while incarcerated. Many speculations were openly
discussed including the possible involvement of the members of the Occupation
Forces but the elapse of time is making it impossible to draw any reasonable
conclusion.
In June 1948, Osamu Dazai, a rising-star
novelist in the gloom of postwar literary world committed suicide with his girl
friend by drowning themselves at "Tamagawa Josui", an aqueduct
completed in 1654 to supply Tama River water to Edo It is 41 kilometer long,
partially underground, but the spot this incident took place is uncovered and is
a popular picnic spot known for the well-kept vegetation, quietness and
serenity, a favorite picnic spot. It is still partially in use for Tokyo's
current water supply.
Dazai's favorite settings were the families
who lost their substantial possessions and privileges of pre-war days as well
as tormented by the loss of self-respect., The
impoverished existence in the chaotic post-war environment added to
their misery. The titles of his novels such as "The Humanity
Disqualified" (Ningen Shikkaku) and "The Setting Sun" (Shayoo)
joined popular vocabulary.
In September 1948, "the Federation of
Housewives" was launched. The members wielded rice scoops ( shamoji) at
their meetings and processions as if they were the scepters, so their
activities were called "Oshamoji Undoo".
Young hoodlums donned aloha-shirts ( some
were home-made and somewhat dissimilar to the Hawaiian originals) to show off.
Strip Tease performances, including "Picture Frame Shows (Gakubuchi
Shows)" stole the attention of the public. Inhibitions over sexual issues
all but vaporized. Coffee shops and movie theaters were offering the seats
designed exclusively for the couples and called them "Romance Seats".
In mid-October 1948, Pan American Airways started using 75 passenger Clippers
on Haneda-San Francisco route which were adored by the Japanese as "the
Flying Hotels".which are
considered to be absolutely out of their
reach then..
Cycle racing and horse racing were started
to alleviate the financial difficulties of local governments in 1948.. After
three years of the end of the World War II , Japan was going through tremendous
changes at a break-neck speed. The labor unions which were eagerly pursuing the
Democratization Movements were now conspicuously steering away towards the
Communist Movements while in the global theatre, the confrontation between the
West led by the USA. and the East by USSR became more pronounced.
The April／May Combined Issue 1948 of the Mita Campus carried the editorial
entitled
:"Capitalism or Socialism" having
taken into account of the development described above. The editorial also
reflected the difficulties of the post-war Japanese economy which had been
marred chronically by inflation and unemployment. Even though there
were spells of time when the majority of
the Japanese people thought the Marxism prophecies would be inevitably
realized, the Mita Campus editorial audaciously promoted the Keynesian view
supporting governmental intervention in business cycles.
The editorial argued that the purely
theoretical analysis of Marxist economy and its Keynesian counterpart shows
they are both controlled by the government intervention,
and therefore there is no basic differences
between the two as far as a nation's economic growth is concerned and the two
global powers should seek the common ground beyond the current
confrontation.
The argument is the typical of the
deep-rooted liberalism of Keio and the Mita Campus, with improbably inflated
optimism, amateurish illogicality, impertinence, impudence and most of all,
unrealistic idealistic liberalism. "This is where the root of our beloved
journal rests "
The price of the Mita Campus had to be
doubled from 5 yen a copy to 10 yen at this time due to the inflation. There
used to be 8 pages of tabloid size but it became 4 pages of blanket size.
According to Yukio Sueyoshi who provides the precise data every time, the Mita
Campus was a tabloid from the 1st issue through the 12th issue, were
full-blanket size from the 13th issue to the 30th, and
then reverted to tabloid size after the 31st issue.
April／May 1947 issue of the journal carried serialized articles such as
"Women's World", "Voices of Youth" and "Contemporary
Cinema" which displayed respective uniqueness.
"Women's World" realistically depicted, analyzed and indicted the
innumerable difficulties the co-eds had
to encounter in their efforts to continue academic pursuit, even in "the
Democratized Japan" in which they were compelled to resort to their
physical attractions to meet their essential pecuniary requirements. (In Japan
of 1948, there were still cases of the girl students had to work as traditional
GEISHAs due to the extreme destitution they happened to find themselves in ! )
In fact, such reports seldom appeared on the
Mita Campus at thAt time. Majority of the articles were
following "dizzy post-war liberation trend" or displaying
inappropriate flamboyance remote from the actuality of the post-defeat
predicaments facing the majority of Japanese people as seen on outdated and
hackneyed topics such as how to socialize with foreigners or the activities of
Harvard Society in Japan etc. which unabashedly praised and worshipped American
and European way of life so unrelated to the prevailing distitution in
Japan.
In retrospect , however, such tendencies
may have been the very tradition Keio carried as the group of the elite with
futuristic views forever seeking the irrelevantly grandiose dreams of the days
to come as typified in an anecdote of May 15th 1868 when Fukuzawa read an text
in English written by an American scholar ("The Elements of Moral
Science" by Francis Wayland 1796- 1865, Baptist educator/economist and
one-time president of Brown University.) to the class unconcernedly in the
midst of dins of the bombardment in the final organized resistance in Edo
(Tokyo) of pro-Shogunate group against the Imperial Expeditionary Force from
Kyoto. (Shogitai-no-ran.)
<1949>
The current leaders and the volunteers
trying to support and resurrect the Mita Campus and taking the initiative at
the Diet (parliament), local politics as well as business, research, education
and all facets of life in Japan are those referred to as "Senmu-ha - War-
Ignorant Group" or "the Generation unaffected by WWII" who were
born around 1947 and say up to 1949. It
is one of the ironies created by the history that such groups are trying to
deny at this moment the values of all types of "Democratization
Movements" which took place during the quarter century immediately
following the war. It is more than possible that the Mita Campus was one of the
influential members of the groups which actively promoted such movements during
that particular period.
On October 1st 1949, a new
socialist state- the Peoples' Republic of China - led by Chairman Mao Tsu Tung
proclaimed its independence. In Japan on July 4th, General
MacArthur declared that Japan must become
the barrier to prevent the Communist
Expansion and the National Railway
dismissed 37,000 of its staff, followed by another mass firing of 63,000
employee .on July 12th.. On July 5th, Sadanori Shimoyama,
the
Director General of then National Railway
was found killed on the railway track in northern part of Tokyo. July 15th
saw an electric train without the driver overran an barrier at Mitaka station
on busy Chuo Line in Tokyo a major commuting artery.. On August 17th,
a passenger train was derailed and overturned killing 3 people at Matsukawa
Station on Tohoku Line. There were many labor disputes and yet unsolved
violent incidents.
It must be noted that the labor union
movements in the U.S. were coming active.
The retrenchment policies effected by GHQ
and anti-inflationary measures proposed by Joseph Morrel Dodge, a banker from
Detroit, who acted as the financial advisor first to the post-war German
government and subsequently to the cabinet of Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda, to
alleviate the predicaments of small and medium sized business in all sectors of
Japanese economy caused social and political instabilities. Loan sharks and
shady financial brokers were everywhere.
Ex- POW die-hard communists indoctrinated by the USSR during their detention in
Siberia were repatriated to Japan en masse at this time.
The illegal use of pep-pills known as
"Hiropon" , the trade name of "menthaphetamine" became
rampant. "Gyo!!! " an interjection used by a popular comedian Toppa
Utsumi in his leading role in a radio drama " Café Nonchalant"
(Yookina Kissaten) became wildly popular. With the advent of the first wave of
the practical "public relations" the new profession of "Sandwich
man", a street walker carrying man-sized bill boards one infront and the
other on his back came into fashion. But the undisputed top news was
Dr. Hideki Yukawa's winning of the Physics
Nobel Prize which together with Furuhashi and his colleague Hashizume setting
of the World Record at a Los Angeles Swimming Tournament lightened the hearts
of the Japanese people.
The September 1949 issue of the Mita Campus
featured the reports of the repatriation of Hiyoshi Campus from the Occupation
Forces to Keio University which was the cause
of the great joy to the students faculty
members as well as the4 alumni.. The report of the visit of Professor Ushoda,
then "Jukucho" and professors Hiramatsu and Kiyooka to express their
gratitude for the ealy release of the property to Keio to pay respect to
General MacArthur then GHQ Commander-in-chief
was the major subject. During the conversation with the General and three
professors, Professor Kiyooka made some remarks on the Mita Campus.
The General was impressed in finding the
existence of a foreign language (particularly that of the past nemesis) journal
managed and supported by a group of Japanese students - there were many
post-secondary students including those of Keio whose class-mates were inducted
into the military service towards the end of the war never to come home again - keeping stiff upper lip with the desire not
only to recover from the defeat in the war and their natural animosity against
the Occupation Forces. but decided to look forward to better future in the
utter deprivation, in which mere survival was difficult due to the shortage of
all resources. We should admire the General's cool-handed treatment of the
information and and Professor Kiyooka's enthusiasm and initiative in
promoting the Mita Campus even under the
sensitive circumstances such as this meeting!
However, it seems too naïve to believe that
the General's decision was only due to his sense of compassion, sympathy and
fairness to the destitute Japanese students. The adversarial conditions between
the Western Democracy-Capitalism and the Eastern Communism- Socialism were
growing more pronounced. With the presence of USSR and PRC, the latter's
advantage in Asia seemed more probable than in Europe. The
anti-communism/socialism tendencies in the United States was growing. GHQ
dispatched Dr. Walter C. Eells, its advisor on Higher Education (attached to
CIE-Civil Information and Education Section) to about thirty colleges and
universities throughout Japan in a whirlwind trip (Iiruzu Senpuu).in order to implement GHQ's anti-communism
policies.
The situation became further complicated
because the idea of the Red Purge itself appeared to be contrary to the concept
of the freedom of academic activities and political ideology which were
guaranteed in Japan's new constitution which is said to have been at least partially
drafted in English by GHQ. There were
controversies within CIE on "Red Purges".
Another aspect need to be considered is
that Keio stuck to Fukuzawa's to ideals of liberalism and did not follow the
ultra-nationalism promoted by the chauvinistic military-led governments which
had led to the World War II. This anti-militarism included both proponents of
the American-type democracy/capitalism and Comintern-led socialism/communism
because they were fighting against the common enemies.
However, as soon as the Japanese militarism
disintegrated after the war, the capitalism- communism coalition also
disintegrated. Majority of Keio faculties, students and alumni were the
supporters of democracy/capitalism,
however, Sanzo Nozaka, who stayed in China during the war and returned to Japan
after the war to lead the Communist Party was an Economics-major Keio graduate.
In perusing "the Mita Campus"
articles such back-ground at the particular time must be taken into account.
Because it was published in English to appeal directly to the international
audiences by university students of the defeated Asian country at the time of
world-wide instability and confusion, the Mita Campus has been a unique
publication which made the participants in its activities most proud.
.
Another subject of similarly sensitive and
important nature in 1949 was the coercive policies the Japanese government and
GHQ assumed in the form of "Red Purge" in expelling the instructors
and scholars who were said to be imbued with Communistic orientations from
colleges and universities all over the country. Chairman Mao's Red Army was
mopping up the remnant of the Generalissimo Chang Kai Shek's Kuomintang Forces
in the neighboring China . USSR was sending back large groups of Japanese POWs
who were supposed to have been indoctrinated die-hard socialists. Under the
circumstance, GHQ had to be on the alert to stem the tide of Marxism which
increased its impact on the people suffering from the shortage of everything.
Such GHQ policies preceded the McCarthyism in the U.S. which reached its peak
in 1950s. However, There were so many
labor disputes in the U.S. such as Western Electric Telephone and United
Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, United Steel Workers Union (all in
January 1945), United Auto Workers Union (March 1945), Railroad Trainmen and
Locomotive Engineers Brotherhood May 1946), Taft-Hartley Act that bans the
closed shop,permits employer law suits against unions for broken contracts or
damages incurred during strikes and established Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service was passed Congress over-riding the veto by President
Truman).
.The Mita Campus'
April/May combined issue as well as the
September and December issues published in 1949
carried the articles entitled as "Expulsion of Red Professors
From Campuses". This was a social issue of tremendous
dimension for the post-war Japan. Shigeru Nambara, then president of Tokyo
University and his followers publicized the importance of "Academic
Freedom". The members of the Mita Campus also felt this was their own
problem and actively participated in the discussions. They were becoming aware
of the fact that the post-war democracy was the antithesis of the
socialism/communism of the same period.
<1950>
Started in June 1950., North Korean Army
invaded the Republic of Korea crossing 38 Parallel and the United Nations
Coalition force retaliated rather belatedly due to the lack of preparedness.
ROK Army did not have a tank of any description to counter North Korean's 500
relatively new USSR-built tanks.
Simultaneously the confrontation of
Democracy vs. Socialism was commenced.in Japan
Shigeru Yoshida's cabinet established the National Police Reserve (the
para-military group which became the predecessor of Self Defense Force) Yoshida
was the Ambassador to U.K. before the war and was incarcerated during the war
as he was accused of being the ringleader of the pacifist group trying to
promote the cessation of the war. He was staunchly against the re-armament of
Japan and was afraid the economic burden of the rearmament would trigger
people's unrest which may serve as the hot-bed of the communist tendency.
Another notable incident was the burning of
Kinkakuji Temple (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion) by arson committed by a
reportedly demented junior monk.
.
The most notable was the growth of various
communist activities. GHQ became tremendously active in implementing the
"Red Purges"(elimination of the leftists' influences from every
corner of the Japanese society). "Red Purge" was started by the
speech delivered by Dr. Walter C. Eells, the special advisor to GHQ on higher
education (attached to CIE - Civil Information and Education Section) extolling
the expulsion of union leaders from educational institutions. Red Purge lasted
for several years after the speech. Dr. Ealls encountered oppositions during
his trip. His presentations scheduled on May 2nd 1950 at Tohoku
University in Sendai and on May 16th at Hokkaido University in
Sapporo both had to be cancelled due to the local oppositions.
Prime Minister Yoshida criticized the
President Nanbara of Tokyo University who advocated the neutrality of Japan in
all international conflict and the signing of the peace treaty with all
antagonists including USSR as "a culprit in guise of a scholar who distorts
academic truth to seek popularity of the mass" (Kyokugaku Asei no To)
which is an archaic idiomatic expression in Chinese classic. .
Meantime, a large number of government
officials, members of Diet (congressmen), the minstrels of Naniwa-bushi, and
folks from all walks of life took advantage of even slightest connections to
travel to the United States but almost none of them was able to explain the
specific purpose of his/her trip. " Ame-shon" (One who went to
America to pee) became a very popular way to describe them.
A Yamagiwa-san who used to impersonate a
second generation U.S. citizen (which he was not ) committed a robbery and was
arrested by the police at which time he exclaimed "Oh mistake!" which
became the candid description of "Apres Guerre" generation.
The students saw it fashionable to use
irrelevant "hybrid words" and/or concoctions of Japanese and English
words to express irrelevant matters and occasions among which were
"Tondemo Happen", (That will never happen.) "Ikare Ponchi"
(Youth Nonchalant) "Never Suki" (No attraction whatsoever)
In such chaos and confusion. the post-WWII
world was going through dramatic metamorphosis which defied any assumable
similarities or connections with previously
established conventions. The term
"Democracy" used in traditional sense after the war has been revised
to describe "anti-communistic democracy" after the start of the
Korean War. The enigmatic expression of "Police Reserve Force" to
describe an abstract
concept is an example of such distortion.
The Almanac of American History, edited by
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (copyright Brompton Books Corporation 1993 ISBN
1-56619-069-X had an article ,Emerging as a World Power,by R.H. Ferrell,
Profesor of History, Indiana University stated as follows;
"America as a world power had had a
primary interest in Western Europe in the rightful belief that the people and
the industrial capacity of that part of the world could not safelly be allowed
to pass under the control of Soviet Union……
The Far East seemed an awkward area, a sort of politically faulted place
with some countries such as Japan, more secure than others. With the
extraordinary growth of the Japanese economy, the stabilitynJapan's post war
governmnet and the wisdom of its policies, foreign and domestic, the U.S. has
come to consider Japan to a power
balance ."
The May 1950 issue of the Mita Campus
allotted only a small space for Prime Minister Yoshida's criticism of Shigeru
Nambara, the President of Tokyo University while the issue covered more of the
reports on Keio's internal affairs. It covers the trip of Prof. Ushioda, then
"Jukucho" to the United States, the faculties' academic seminars,
students' athletic events. Particularly, the students' Japan-U.S. exchange
programs and international exchange programs were given more attention by the
reporters and editors. The issue's first
page feature was the reporter's interview with the "Jukucho"
on his return from the U.S.
"Jukucho" mentioned in the interview that he carried the copies of
the Mita Campus on his trip which attracted the attention of the American
students who read them very attentively.
Other topics included were, a Keio student
winning GHQ scholarship to attend a U.S. university ( Japan remained under the
occupation of the Allied Forces until April 28th 1952 when the WWII Peace Treaty came into
effect. -the signing of the treaty was on September 8th 1951, and
the U.S. Visa for Japanese national before that was issued by GHQ - not by the
State Department- which was a big deal for the Japanese nationals then.), U.S.
Education Mission's visit to Keio, Welcome party of U.S. students group at
Hiyoshi Campus - where Keio students were using former barracks of Occupation
Forces as lecture halls, and Keio's Winning of inter-collegiate championship
tournament.
Among these articles. reflecting the topics then widely discussed,
there was the
analysis whether the Japanese capitulation
on August 15th 1945 should be construed as the surrender to
"all and every members of the allied nations and/or regimes (Comprehensive
Surrender) and therefore the Peace Treaty must be concluded with all
members of the Allied Forces.
(Comprehensive Peace Treaty).
Yoshida felt Japan did have the inalienable
right of a sovereign state to protect itself from invasion whatever the
language of the Article 9 of the new Constitution might be. He felt for Japan
it was more realistic to join in the United Nations and for that purpose, it
was sufficient to conclude the Peace Treaty with the United States and its followers.
At that time, the Japanese idealistic
pacifist groups (usually with leftist inclinations)) were insisting upon the
"Comprehensive Surrender" interpretation with the ultimate objective
of making Japan as "Switzerland in Asia". with the permanent neutrality.
Yoshida and John Foster Dulles, then U.S. Secretary of State, after complicated
- and probably sophisticated - diplomatic arguments agreed to conclude U.S.
Japan Security Treaty simultaneously with the signing of the Peace Treaty. The
Security Treaty enabled the U.S. to maintain its military forces in Japan for
the purpose of keeping peace and safety of the Far East area. The treaty had an
appendix called "Acheson- Yoshida
Protocol" which provided that the Japanese government will support
the activities of the United Nations troops in Korean Peninsula and provide
them with the use and services of the facilities inside Japan.
Judging from the articles published on the
journal, The Mita Campus's staff at that time showed much interest in the
United Nations involved in international exchanges and establishing various
relations. It is easy to imagine the many serious discussions had taken place
so often among the journal's staff.
- To be continued to Chapter II (1951 - 1955)-
