JAPAN: Land of the Reluctant Sparrows

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Once upon a time, goes a story, there was an Emperor who was particularly fond of cherries. When he discovered one day that the sparrows were eating his cherries, he decreed that all sparrows must be killed or driven away. But with the birds gone, the beetles abounded. They overran the orchards and devoured the crops. The Emperor, rueful of his error, ordered the sparrows back.

It is now ten years since the Allies drove the Japanese back to the cage of their meager islands and forbade them ever to bear arms...

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