Tokyo, November 26, 1942 Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service,
Federal Communications Commission, November 26, 1942. I think
the causes of the present war of Greater East Asia are remote.
The history of the world shows that the world trend since the 19
Century has, on the whole, been a record of the eastern movement
of occidental influences. Since the 19 Century, the people of
East Asia have been compelled to lie inactive before the onrush
of economic forces, together with the strong military power, of
the Western European powers. As a consequence, many of the
Asiatic countries lost their territory or even their very
independence. Even our own country could not until very recently
have its own customs, autonomy, or judicial power which was
bound by the restrictions of various unequal treaties. The
historical inevitability of the war of Greater East Asia lies,
indeed, in the reaction of the East Asiatic people against the
unjust encroachment of these various Western European
influences. Germany, Italy, and o