JAPAN: Oil & the Door

Diplomats are supposed to be a tactful tribe, but in Tokyo owl-eyed Mr. Eiji Amau, famed Official Spokesman of Japan's Foreign Office, continues to carve out of tactlessness a great career. Many Japanese expect to see him Premier some day. Last week Official Spokesman Amau fairly surpassed himself when mockingly he announced that if the Great Powers dislike Japan's far-sighted and ingenious oil policy, "they can appeal to China!"

Three months ago the Son-of-Heaven, cloistered Emperor Hirohito, proclaimed a National Oil Business Law so bold and drastic that at first it was...