THE dynamism, the energy of the Japanese" was a recurring theme of Tokyo Bureau Chief Edwin Reingold's many dispatches for this week's cover story on Japan, its people, and its place in the world and history. The Japanese could easily return the compliment. Reingold and his colleagues, Frank Iwama and S. Chang, covered the country from Hokkaido to Kyushu and Okinawa. They attended cheerful festivals as well as grim student riots; they interviewed philosophers, business magnates, artists, shopkeepers, critics and politicians (including Premier Sato). "In a way, I have been working on this cover ever since I arrived here just one year ago, collecting interviews, impressions and material," says Reingold. If that is true of Reingold, it certainly is doubly so of Iwama, who has been a member of the Tokyo bureau for 20 years, and of Chang, a mere neophyte of nine years with TIME. Iwama specialized in Japan's industrial and business growth while Chang reported on cultural and social patterns. And Far East Correspondent Louis Kraar provided an overview of the Japanese abroad. Says Reingold: "We got excellent cooperation from almost everyone involved. Their punctuality was incredible, at least to me, after having worked in Africa and Latin America. One difficulty is that many Japanese can be too convincingly self-deprecating. They are just too good at telling you how inadequate they find themselves, while you can see all around you the abundant evidence of their adequacy."

And so, we believe, will TIME'S readers see that evidence in the cover story written by Timothy James and researched by Marion Knox. Tim and Marion have yet to make their first visit to Japan, but Senior Editor Ronald Kriss qualifies as an old hand in the Orient after military service in the 1950s plus a Pulitzer traveling scholarship; in fact, his first child was born in Tokyo.

The Cover: Design and photography by Robert S. Crandall.

In the Feb. 9 issue, TIME announced a new pamphlet prepared by our Education Department. Entitled Drugs and the Young, it aims to help adults understand the youngsters' problems, and to encourage the kids themselves to find less risky ways of turning on. Distributed tree to teachers enrolled in TIME'S subscription program, the pamphlet was also offered to the general public at $1.50 per copy. So many requests have been received from all over the world that we give a mailing address below for inquiries and orders: Drugs and the Young, TIME Education Program, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, New York 10020

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