Micronesia

Japan's Vital Supply Problem Wants to Return to

„ HE Prime Minister of Japan (Mr. Yoshida) has appealed to the United States to allow for ner Japanese settlers and fishermen jo return to the Mariana, Caroline, md Marshall Islands.

He said the return of Japanese o these former Japanese-mandated ;emtones would help ease Japan’s ntal food and population problems. r-, „ , ii Caroline, Marshall and Manana Islands have had an extraordinary history. They

were first colonised by Spanish ex peditions. After the Spanish- American War, they passed into the possession of Germany, mostly by purchase. Japan was not an active participant in World War I; but, as the official ally of Great Britain, she occupied this section of Ger many’s Pacific Empire while Britain and Germany were at war—and she proposed to occupy German New Guinea, only the Australians got there first.

After World War I, when Germany’s various Colonies were distributed to the various countries under League of Nations’ Mandates the Mandate for the three Micro nesian groups (Carolines, Marshalls and Marianas) was given to Japan, For about 12 years, Japan ad ministered the Territory on behalf of the League of Nations; but early

in the Thirties, when she had become very arrogant and was making plans for the conquest of Asia and the Pacific generally, Japan walked out of the League of Nations and annexed Micronesia.

From then on, it was administered as “a closed book” Europeans were excluded, large numbers of Japanese were settled there, and most of the chief ports were fortified. It was from those bases that Japan, in 1942, struck at the South Pacific countries.

When the Americans cleared the Japanese officially out of these groups, most of the Japanese settlers were repatriated. Later, United States was given a United Nations Trusteeship over Micro nesia. The Micronesians generally (there are only some 50,000 of them) have a close affinity with the Islanders south of the Equator; and the American Administration, through the South Pacific Com mission, now seeks to co-ordinate its policies with those of the South Pacific Administrations.

Having, through defeat in war, lost the whole of her colonial empire, Japan now is faced with the gravest problems in relation to food supply. Her home islands can barely feed her rapidly growing population of over 80 millions, it is obvious that if she is not pro vided with additional territory for food production, she must either prepare for war again, or con siderably reduce her population