Joe Hirakawa, the Arthur Godfrey of Japanese radio, gets such enthusiastic letters from some of his 1,250,000 fans that he had to remind one admirer: "The war is over, and writing letters in your own blood is undemocratic." Like his burly U.S. counterpart, dapper, 48-year-old Joe Hirakawa is continually swamped with presents: hand-knitted sweaters, fresh vegetables, wine, porcelain vases. "It's wonderful," he sighs. "Not what they send but the consideration behind it."
Joe works hard at being a radio teacher of English, which he interlards with American slang dating back to the '20s. "You bet your life!" a Hirakawa-trained Japanese will cry,...
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