JAPAN: Tojo Rides Again

Each morning at sunrise Japan’s most important sitting-down soldier, Premier General Hideki Tojo, rides Tokyo’s streets for half an hour. Policeman Ono was overcome with trepidation one morning as the General dismounted before his box and thanked him for guarding the capital’s matutinal peace.

Last week General Tojo heard that parts of Tokyo were threatened with a fish shortage. To the fish market he rode. He fingered two suspicious specimens and inquired: “Are these still edible?” Then the Premier asked the fishmongers the real reason for the shortage. Lack of oil for Japan’s motor-powered fishing boats, he was told. “Oil!” exclaimed General Tojo. “Why not get up earlier and work harder?”