Fumio Tanaka and Shosuke Matsumoto, both 24 and friends since boyhood, attended the same high school, fought with the Japanese forces, and are now completing their economic studies at Tokyo's Keio University. Their common background even includes the purge of both their fathers: Tanaka's because he was a wartime cabinet member, Matsu-moto's as a general. However, young Tanaka is a conservative, young Matsumoto a Communist. They typify the two vigorous parties in Japan—and the way Japanese youth is torn.
Last week, Tanaka and Matsumoto talked with TIME Correspondent Sam Welles, who cabled...