The Land od the Rising Yen

asylums in Japan than anywhere in the world: nervous
breakdown with crying fits is a recognized occupational disease of Japanese
postmen. (To speed up its outbreak, Japanese letters are addressed to So-and-so
San — San meaning Mr, Mrs, and Miss.) Somebody told me that when
an American exclaimed about this exasperating lack of street names, a Japanese
gentleman replied in an amused and somewhat patronizing manner: ‘Oh you
Americans... you want a name for everything.’
     
    Even Japanese understatement, at
least on occasion, rivals the British. Before the war, we had the notorious
‘incidents’. An incident — according to the Oxford Dictionary — is a
‘subordinate event’. The Manchurian Incident — that subordinate event in
Manchuria — changed the history of Japan. Or take the famous surrender
broadcast. Japan had been defeated on land, at sea and in the air; the country
had been devastated more than Germany by aerial bombardment even before the atomic bombs were dropped; then they were dropped; and the Soviet
Union declared war on Japan. The surrender broadcast summed all this up: ‘The
war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage.’
    (In a way this understatement was
most un-British. They always described their own setbacks, defeats and
disasters not only with candour but with gusto.)
     
    The relationship between Britain and Japan is a good one. The British Week and Expo both help. These countries want to trade
with each other and although British strikes and delays in delivery cause
stupefaction in Japan — they simply do not understand this sort of thing —
there is no major unsettled issue between the two.
    Except the dog crisis. Some British
dog-lovers complained that dogs were badly treated in Japan. There was no actual demand to declare war on Japan to liberate oppressed dogs, but
considering the fuss dog-lovers can create (second only to the Sunday
Observance Society) anything could have happened. I did not quite understand
the uproar. I saw that Japanese dogs were kindly treated, well fed, well
groomed and rather spoilt. Then I heard that the British complaint was not
about Japanese dogs. How the Japanese treated their own dogs was their own
internal affair. The outcry was about British dogs exported to Japan: they were British subjects, protected by the Crown and, indeed, the British Embassy
was deeply involved in the dog crisis. A high-ranking diplomat told me that
British-Japanese relations were much worse than at the fall of Singapore. Not only were these British dogs insufficiently revered — and that was bad
enough — but they were being bred from too often. Then, at last, I
understood. It was the British puritan speaking: dogs — even dogs sold for
breeding — should not copulate too frequently: it is immoral. The puritan’s
voice was mingled with the voice of the true British humanitarian. Britain, the country where sex-life was practically unknown before 1 955, has become the sex-capital of the world. Very
well, that has to be accepted with resignation even by dog-lovers. But if human
beings are foolish enough to have more sexual intercourse than the greatness of
Britain demands, if some of them seek sexual intercourse actually for pleasure, that is their own business. It does not mean that poor, innocent animals should
be exposed to the same horrors.
     
     
    HOW AMERICAN?
     
    The rest of the world has a
stereotyped image, left over from the twenties, of Americans: the tall
businessman chewing his enormous cigar, hiring and firing people in a loud,
nasal voice, worshipping money and always wearing a hat when indoors.
    But they were very different
Americans who arrived in Japan in 1945. They were modern, tough and efficient
young men; masters of modern techniques and superb administrators. They were
led by the Viceroy, a man who loved Japan but had an imperious and avuncular
attitude towards her. He knew what was best for her and gave orders to act
accordingly.
    People invading a country after its
unconditional surrender are rarely loved. The Americans always expect love and
never get it; in this single case they expected hatred and hostility but, for
once, they were loved. And respected; respected as Americans; respected as
conquerors.
    The Japanese were eager to learn.
They wanted to find out as soon as possible how to be victors and top-dogs.
    The world was impressed, the
Americans were pleased. America is the first great power in history which