Abstract

Japan Dams "Dangerous Thoughts"

Japan which fears radicalism as a threat to the Mikado far more than imperial Russia trembled before nihilism and anarchism will spend at least $1,500,000 during the next fiscal year to "improve the national thought" and wipe out trends toward socialism. Extreme socialistic sermons and communistic cries all are regarded in Japan as "dangerous thoughts." Especially since the culmination of the World War and the bolshevization of Russia, thousands of students and labor leaders have been arrested for expressing menacing opinions toward the government. The idea of socialism is repugnant to most Japanese. The manner in which Japan proposes to dam the growing wave of communism and socialism is unique. The principal work will be carried on in the universities and middle schools, always hotbeds of new ideas the world over. The Government will appropriate nearly $75,000 to extend the present unofficial system of the Ministry of Education to supervise students.