The Japanese agreed that it was a "historic" electionthe nearest thing they had ever had to a free vote. There was campaign give-&-take as 2,781 candidates, representing 257 parties, wrangled for 466 parliamentary seats. They ranged from sturdy Kenshin Izumi of the Buddhist priesthood, which recently organized for politics, to efficient Miss Shidzue Yamaguchi, a typist sponsored by Christian Leader Toyohiko Kagawa. A few Communists had been stoned. The Communists had mobbed the residence of Premier Baron Kijuro Shidehara. One radical had even called the Emperor "that guy," a bit of new...
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