Minseito's Mouse

Closest thing to a defiant Senator Borah in Japan's muzzled Diet has been a slim, sharp-faced, sad-eyed little man named Takao Saito. Ever since he returned to Japan from Yale ('04), he has championed lost causes. He looks at once so meek and so dignified that his fellow Dietarians call him Lord Mouse. Last month Lord Mouse startled Japan by standing up in the Diet and roaring like a lion: When will this war end? What does all this high-sounding talk about a New Order mean? For two hours he flayed the Cabinet, the Army, the Incident. It was one of the most daring speeches in the history of parliamentary Japan.

Soon Takao Saito was the centre of a storm. Newspapers criticized him for criticizing Japan, but said that there was much in what he said--that it was even possible that a majority of Japanese agreed with him. To save face, the Minseito Party expelled him from its ranks. But when it was discovered that he had been secretly intriguing for an antimilitarist, Party-dominated Cabinet, the Army went out for his political hide.

Last week the Diet told Takao Saito to resign. Commentators considered it most important to note that despite Japan's internal crisis, the Army still had so much influence. But far more important was what the tipsters were saying: Saito is out but not down. He will almost certainly be re-elected in 1941. And then defiant Lord Mouse is expected to show that the cat has not got his tongue.

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