Must We Fight Japan? - 1921

First, the author points out the militaristic tendency of Japan. This tendency eventually led to the military virtually taking over the government and is what led Japan into war.

The author also gives reasons why Japan dislikes us. The first of these, that American newspapers and movies gave a bad impression of the country, is something I have not seen elsewhere, but is a very important point. Remember, the U.S. was not the only country with television, etc. Japan didn't have it either, so the average Japanese citizen had to get information from the same sources U.S. citizens did; radio and the newspaper, primarily.

The author then points out how America forced its trade upon Japan which, at the time, was keeping quite literally to itself. The author then talks about the overpopulation problem in Japan, and how that causes Japan to want to take over other areas for its own growth.

The Japanese resented the way the people on the Pacific Coast treated the Japanese who had settled there, which isn't surprising considering what the Japanese immigrants were having to put up with.

The author then goes on to talk about how American movies gave a very bad impression of the U.S.

The author says that the films from the U.S. that are shown in Japan are of low quality. “The Japanese sees exactly what you see-murders, robberies, prostitutes exhibiting themselves as heroines, and supposedly sane characters saying and doing things which only morons or drug fields would say or do.”

Thus, the picture that Japanese have been getting of America is a very negative one, indeed.

The author notes another kind of film that “...was adjudged too nasty for even a Barbary Coast audience in San Francisco.” In other words, the films were really, really nasty.

The author then goes after the newspapers, noting that only sensational news is sent between countries. The result, he says, is that the newspaper articles that get through only serve to make the image given by the movies seem real and accurate. The type of news that the papers, and more importantly television, presents is still a matter of great debate and concern even today.

The author then gives examples of the things the newspapers cover.

More examples of negative things from the paper, along the lines of murders this time.

The author then goes after the U.S. criminal system, saying “Measured alongside the police systems of Europe and Japan, ours is a ghastly jest.” The U.S., he is saying, is a very violent country where criminals often get away without being caught or punished.

The author talks about prohibition (all alcohol was outlawed for a while, and that turned into a wonderful opportunity for big and small crooks, illegally made booze, and booze-running.) Then the author goes on to list moe negative types of newspaper stories.

Car accidents are discussed, and how charities get less money in times of business uncertainties. Then the author talks about graft and corruption in our government.

A writer talks about labor problems.

His writing continues. (The labor issue was one of the major issues that contributed to anti-Japanese prejudice on the West Coast.) The point of all these articles that the author cites is to show just how negative an image of the U.S. the Japanese were receiving from our own mass media.

The author then talks about the anti-Japanese land laws, and other things that the U.S. was doing to “oppress” Japan.

His list of things continues. The writer then says that the anti-Japanese feeling is throughout the U.S. and even among Democrats.

A Japanese foreign minister remarks about how the Japanese are treated in the U.S. Then he quotes a Japanese newspaper that remarks about the same thing.

The end result, the author says, is that the situation between the U.S. and Japan is worse than what had been the situation between Germany and the U.S. ten years previously (just before World War I).

The author says there are three ways that Japan is being thought about, the first being the missionary habit, which basically holds that the Japanese are all heathens who need to be converted to the right way of thinking.

He goes on in detail about this approach, then presents what could be a newer, better approach to thinking about Japan and the Japanese.

He then talks about how the newspapers, particularly the Hearst papers, present the Japanese. It's very interesting that almost exactly the same things were said by the papers just prior to the outbreak of Pearl Harbor, something which undoubtedly contributed to the eventual internment of persons of Japanese ancestry in the West Coast states.

Here the author talks about why war is unlikely between the two countries, basically due to the distance between them. At the time of the book, this was true, but by the time of WWII there had been advances in technology that an attack on the continental U.S. possible, although still impractical.

The author talks about Japan seizing the Philippines and Hawaii, the first of which actually happened later and the second of which was still not impossible, at least early in WWII. He notes that Japan would move southward, towards Australia, which again is something that actually happened in the war. Japan came close to actually overrunning Australia and adding them to its empire.

He then misses the boat about what would happen in China if the Japanese became aggressors. They were not, of course, thrown out. They were opposed, but Japan had a lot of success in taking over Chinese territory, at least early on in the war.

The author then goes on to talk some more about how hard it would be for the U.S. to fight in Japanese-controlled areas. Again, technology changed and such long-distance fights became possible.

Japan militarists were angry about U.S. opposition to the Japanese inroads being made into China. This is still before Japan actually invaded China.

The author talks about the “now or never” approach to war, which is something that actually played a role in Japan's decision to attack the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor. Some of the leaders felt that if they did not act when they did, they would never be able to do what they wanted, as the U.S. would become too powerful.

He discusses Japanese immigration to the U.S. from Hawaii, and what effect this would have.

The author notes how people in the Eastern part of the U.S. couldn't quit understand how California felt about the Japanese, and how intense those feelings were. Remember that California already had gone through an anti-Oriental time, treating the Chinese much as they were treating the Japanese now. The Eastern part of the U.S. did not have enough Japanese or Chinese in it to stir similar feelings.

The author discusses Japanese population in California.

Then there's discussed how illegal immigrants are being brought into the U.S. through Mexico, and how hard it is to prevent that. Almost everything that is said in this section is being repeated today; it's just the particular immigrants are not Japanese but Mexican.

The article continues. Sometimes it seems that nothing really changes that much despite the number of years that passes.

A very successful Japanese businessman writes about the Japanese in America.

The Japanese were considered competitors to U.S. farmers.

The Japanese farmers can out-farm American farmers, basically.

Something not really discussed in most other books; Japanese fisheries.

He again says the Japanese will not attack the West Coast of the U.S.

Japanese farming is talked about, the author pointing out that the Japanese farmers are successful with some things, but not with others.

He discusses Japanese language schools, and how “...the mikado is exalted as God's local manager.” Mikado is another name for the Japanese emperor.

The things that are good about the Japanese immigrants are the very things that are helping fuel the anti-Japanese prejudice.

A very interesting quote about the cleanliness of Japanese vs. other groups.

He talks about how the Japanese really do start to assimilate when given the chance, and how they have a high morality.

The author compares anti-Japanese prejudice with anti-black prejudice, and then explains about the Armenians; note the sign at the top about “No Japs or Armenians Wanted!”

He takes another swipe at the newspaper reporters and editors.

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