Пропагандистская листовка «Не вижу, не слышу, не говорю»

In Nikko there is the famous carving of the three monkeys, said to have been made by the lefthanded sculptor Hidari Jingoro. The carving depicts the not seeing, not hearing and not talking monkey. You will all have been told that this is meant as symbolizing the teaching to see, hear and talk ho evil.

But there is more to the story. If the eyes, ears and the mouth are covered with one's hands, neither evil nor truth can be heard, seen or spoken. Is this not self-deception and cowardice? True courage and sincerity demand that man shall at all times be able and willing to distinguish between good and evil. To reject evil and to embrace what is good is the duty of man and of nations when truth is known, the choice is made easy, but, as the (Japanese) proverb says, reason and truth withdraw, when force prevails.

Woe to a nation whose government prevent the people from seeing, hearing and speaking the truth! Blind, deaf, and mute they are left to wander in darkness.

Alas, this is what your militaristic leaders did and still do. These chauvinists fear that the intelligent people of Japan will learn the truth. Therefore they control the press, radio and the importation of books and periodicals. Also the educational system is rigorously controlled and special police organs even spy upon the thoughts of people. They do not want the Japanese to know the truth about their history and cling to teachings of a mythology which serves their interests, but keeps the nation separated from the progressive peoples of the civilized world.

You have never been told the truth about the war. Only a minute fraction of your losses in men, planes, ships and materials are published. Japanese defeats are usually described in Imperial Headquarter Communiques as "a strategic withdrawal after achieving the chosen objectives."

The battle of Midway Island, in which you suffered very heavy losses has been described as a great victory for Japan. If this were true, you might have expected mention of it in the funeral orations for the late Admiral Yamamoto, whose interment took place on the anniversary of the Midway encounter. But nothing was ever again heard about this battle.

There is something pathetic in the frantic efforts of your military government to uphold the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese army. This attitude undoubtedly hides a fear. It is the weak, not the strong who dare not acknowledge defeat.

Do you realize that your militaristic leaders are continuously trying to keep the truth from you and to keep your minds saturated with fairy tales?

The military clique is trying to make the three monkeys who see, hear or speak the truth into a symbol of the Japanese nation for whom they could forever act as sarumawashi (monkey man.)

Reflect on the truth and do not submit any longer to this humiliation.