JAPAN: Birthday Surprise

Two days after His Majesty the Emperor Hirohito had dedicated a casket in Tokyo's Westminster Abbey, Yasukuni Shrine, to the memory of 531 soldiers killed in Manchuria and China since the beginning of the present troubles,* he sat down to celebrate his 32nd birthday with a large and elaborate luncheon. At 2 p. m., just when the sake bowls were succeeding the raw fish salad, the sound of dozens of clattering wooden geta disturbed the palace guards. Newsboys in checked kimonos were rushing bundles of extras to the kiosks with news of...

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