As Finance Minister in Japan's third postwar Cabinet, pudgy, iron-willed Tanzan Ishibashi feuded frequently with General Douglas MacArthur and was purged from office in 1947. Last week, as the strong-minded Minister of International Trade and Industry in the indecisive administration of Ichiro Hatoyama, Ishibashi once again crossed swords with the U.S. In the Oriental Economist, a magazine he has owned since 1939, Ishibashi made the first official announcement that Japan will press for increased "economic and cultural exchanges" with Red China.
Hard hit by the rising prices of raw materials and production costs, Japan is fighting a losing battle to...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
