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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 11, 1985
PAGE 13
resulting from the stock-market collapse into a full-fledged international
depression. It seems that many of today's younger politicians in Washing
ton have not learned the brutal lesson of Smoot-Hawley. (I heard a funny
definition of Washington, D.C. yesterday--"an island surrounded by reali
ty.")
And, as Mr. Okita, quoted above, alluded to, the prospects of an aggrieved
Japan, aroused to dangerous nationalistic sentiment, is something nobody
should desire. In this light, it is interesting to note an observation made
in an editorial which appeared in the Spanish-language newsweekly, VISION,
in its October 22, 1984 issue. Most of the editorial, entitled, "Facing the
Giant," dealt with the ever-sensitive U.S.-Latin American relationship.
But note this reference to u.s.-Japan ties.
Perhaps the most outstanding example in the contrast between a
formal alliance and actual rivalry is Japan. When MacArthur oc
cupied it at the end of the Second World War, he prepared himself
for a guerrilla war. What did he find instead?
Respect and
smiles.
!11!
pre-war militaristic Japan gave way to commercialis
tic Japan.
Has the competition between Tokyo and Washington
ceased because of this? Or shouldn't it rather be said that Ja
pan, having � crushed at Hiroshima and NagasaIT, 1s bia'I'ng
1
ts
time for revenge� time after the year 2000?
A rather shocking assessment. The fruition of any such vengeful feelings
would await future leaders, not men like Prime Minister Nakasone, who are
doing all in their limited power to preserve the shaky U.S.-Japan relation
ship. But what if a full-blown trade war should erupt, bringing modern
Japan to its knees? It is no coincidence that the real test in U.S.-Japan
ties should come at this time, forty years after the end of the war. In
1945 Japan turned abruptly from hostility to America, toward a position of
confidence--confidence in U.S. military protection, and reliance on trade
links to Washington. This forty year period, too, is nearing its end.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau