Tribune: "470 Foe Planes Bagged Last Month" — by the Japanese Army. Definitely shot down numbered 253 against own losses of 92 — not bad for a Japanese announcement. The funny thing is that 88 others are called "probables" — about one in four — and the balance are "heavily damaged" or "set afire" just like a warship.

On January 2, some 80 P-40s raided the eastern tip of Bougainville, "but the Japanese garrison on the island [now it's only a garrison, see?] blasted two of them by ground fire. No damage was sustained by the Japanese side." The Japanese never admit to sustaining damages in Bougainville, but their planes and airfields are no more.

Tokyo: "The growing population of Japan is another proof of ultimate victory." Their population increased by 1,700,000 in 1940 and 930,000 in 1941 — that's 770,000 less babies in one year.

La Vanguardia: A new corporation named Bigasang Bayan, headed by Rafael Garcia, will take over Naric's task of distributing rice. Called Biba for short, it's the same name (National Rice) but in Tagalog. Laurel says there's plenty of rice in Northern Luzon, but he blames the guerrillas, bandits, communists, plus some "irregularities" in Naric for the debacle — everything but a lack of transportation. Naric is now "suspended."

Tokyo radio featured an American prisoner asking: "Why can't we have an arbitrated peace?" It reminds me of what Matsuka, a Japanese civilian who's been here for twenty years, said to a friend of mine: "Maybe this October, America will have new President — make peace with Japan." The Japanese would like that.

What's News? The Russians are in Poland threatening to trap half a million Germans there.