The Struggle for Power

"The thing which most set off Yoshida from the other boys," said one of the Premier's old school friends, "was his infuriating air of superiority. He was small and thin, and his haughtiness constantly brought him beatings and cuffings from his mates." "Shigeru may not have the most appealing personality," agreed the Premier's father-in-law, "but he has backbone, and that's what counts."

In his seven years as Premier of Japan, 76-year-old Shigeru Yoshida has done more than any other Japanese to lift up his people from the rubble of defeat. He has faithfully steered Japan's new democracy between the extremes of left and right. He has led Japan, without bitterness, into the Western alliance.

But Shigeru Yoshida, a tiny (5 ft. 1 in.) man who wears antique wing collars, has also managed to irritate and inflame almost every Japanese who counts. He flourishes his urbanity. He delivers choicely worded insults with jolly grins, and autocratic taps of his cane. He visits the zoo, where he has likened penguins and monkeys to Japanese leaders and called out well-known names at them in his high-pitched squeak. In the Japanese Diet, Premier Yoshida will often drowse through the opposition speeches, sometimes bestirring himself to deal with questions: "I will not answer that."

Intricacy & Intrigue. For offended Japanese politicians, kicking out Shigeru Yoshida has long been a desirable but redoubtable project. Since the war, Yoshida's Liberal (actually conservative) Party has won five general elections: big business gives them ample campaign funds, and the farmers, pleased with high rice prices, give the Liberals their decisive popular vote. Within his Liberal Party, the Premier, who delights in political intricacy, has appointed or reshuffled no fewer than 104 Cabinet ministers so that no one might gather sufficient power to unseat him.

But last month, when Yoshida was touring the U.S. and Europe, a cabal of jealous Liberal Party members developed a new and promising intrigue: their idea was simply to re-form the conservative movement—without Shigeru Yoshida. Last week these conservatives brought their maneuver into the open, and Yoshida was in the fight of his life.

"Advance or Retreat." Hostilities began when Japan's No. 2 conservative, a 71-year-old cripple named Ichiro Hatoyama, led a sizable walkout from the Liberal Party. Hatoyama once led the party, had to turn it over to Yoshida when purged as "undesirable" by Douglas MacArthur, and never got the leadership back. Hostilities deepened when Mamoru Shigemitsu, 65, a crippled ex-war criminal who signed the surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, withdrew the support of his right-wing Progressive Party from Yoshida, leaving Yoshida with only 183 votes in the Lower House of the Diet. The two dissident forces combined to form a big, new, conservative "Japan Democratic Party," with 124 seats and heavy business support. Many Socialists would probably vote with the Democrats. Almost overnight Yoshida was in trouble.