hia
”
*ANIRILE
2
se
ey,
its claims to these funds and to designation as
Japan's chosen atomic instrument. Custody of the
ship and patients immediately became the object of
intense bureaucratic Jjockey!ng.
(b) The tneident coincided with a mounting govern-
ment crisis and grow‘ng Cabinet fatigue. The fifth
Yoshica Cabinet w': Leing harried in the Diet, shaken
by scandals and pro vrators probes, and threatened by
gathcring revolts 1 side the Liberal Par'y and by
Conservative merger wineuvers outside ive control,
It was compelled . oncentrate its depleted energies
on *ts cwn survi il. ‘ile working through a difficult
legislative calcudar. To make matters worse, bureé.34cratte dissatisfaction was brewing at national level be~
cause of govercment and party deficiencies and at local
level teceause of the Cabinet's attempts to recentralize
administration.
The press was using all this to whip
up its continuing campaign against a government which
appoared all but tottering.
:
({c) The inctdent coincided with heightening tension
in the Far East; twin issues of Korea and Indo China,
toward which Geneva scemed to the Japanese to hold
scant promise, created a specter of a new and larger
war not unrelated toe the Pacific tests in Japanese minds,
if 1t cane, most Japanese could not see how they could
escape involvement, probably atomic involvement, and the
prospect horrified them. At the same time curious
ambivalence in Japanese character asserted itself.
Destinies of the Far East were about to be decided
Korea, in Indo China, and at Geneva, and Japan was
cluded from negotiating councils. Japan craved an
casion to assert its position and remind the world
importance.
in
cxos=
of its
4, This .:as the psycholozical and political backgrcund for
the FUKURYU FARU tncident.
When new pressures of Japan's exposure
to “ashes of dcath" were added, the government and people cracked.
A period of uncontrolled masochism ensued, as the nation aided
by an unscrupulous press, seemed to revel in fancied martyrdos,
and US-Japinzce cooreraticn broke down. For a time, on the
FUXURYU MARU Incident, the Government in Japan ceased to govern.
5. The ticakdown was triegered by a small group of Japancse
fentists and doctors, miny of whom were fuzzy-minded leftists,
preifists, ntutralists, Nearly all scemed animated by resentse
vints arising from the occupation with its bin on Japanese atoinle
starchy by nestility tevard ABCC «nd tts SCAP-founded correstifents, L232 National Institute of Hcalth; by a sense of outrage
cver purges ‘tm the medical and sctentific field, All of then
nid vistas of reation-wide publicity at home and world-wide scicn-
tif ie pro-inznce as exclusive proprietors of the world's first
hy iregen bor’ patients.
6. For the first few days doctcrs and scientists held the
field, with uncontrolled statements and releases rade more luridby
.
2s
Department of Enerey
orian’s nities
Historianees