The Fall

"Even monkeys fall from trees," runs an old Japanese proverb. Last week the wiliest arborealist in the Japanese political jungle crashed ingloriously to earth. He was Liberal-Democrat Party Board Chairman Ichiro Kono, the beady-eyed, roly-poly little man who for a decade has personified in his countrymen's minds the guile of political party intrigue.

In a way, Kono's fall was assured by the way he helped put Nobusuke Kishi in as Premier in 1957. "I arranged that Kishi should be Premier," boasted Kono. who previously had more or less managed the government of doddering old Premier Ichiro Hatoyama. "I intend for him to hold the post for about two years. At the moment I am a little too young for it." At that point Kishi was 60, Kono 58.

No man to wait meekly for his dismissal. Kishi cashed in on Japan's economic boom by sweeping last year's elections, and promptly edged Minister of State Kono out of the Cabinet to the party board chairmanship. Then last fall Kishi ran into heavy public and parliamentary opposition to his bill for beefing up Japan's long-feared police (TIME, Nov. 17). Though members of his own party joined in the criticism of the Premier, Kono urged him to go ahead and ram his police bill through. As the din in the Diet grew louder, Kishi saw a sweet use for his adversity. Rounding suddenly on Kono last week, Kishi demanded his resignation, along with those of two other party aides. "Responsibility for the confusion in the Diet rests on these three," he blandly announced. "Therefore, I have no intention of placing them in a responsible position again." If he can get away with these shifts, and get re-elected as party president at the forthcoming Liberal-Democrat meeting, Kishi presumably can count on being Premier for another two years.

At this point, Kono's enemies recalled another Japanese proverb: "Nobody is more stupid than the man who allows his pot to be stolen on a moonlit night."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.