Japanese Here Thunderstruck By Air Attack

WILLIAM HOSOKAWA
'We just can't believe it'

Seattle Japanese are "thunderstruck" by the Japanese nation attacking Hawaii and declaring war on the United States, William Hosokawa. Seattle-born Japanese who returned here recently from the Orient, said yesterday.

"They just couldn't believe it," Hosokawa said. "I was one of the most recent to arrive here from Orient and I've been close to the war situation, but the attack surprised me, too.

� "I know the people of Japan are as surprised as we are. I don't believe the Japanese consulates in this country had any intimation of the attack."

Hosokawa said he had talked with a score of his American-born Japanese friends in Seattle yesterday and the consensus was:

"Well, Japan got herself into this, and the quicker the United States gets it over with the better."

Japanese militarists apparently are operating on a well-planned war schedule, Hosokawa said, but "they'll never get to the Pacific Coast or Alaska--they haven't got anything to follow through with."

Hosokawa said he believes the Hawaii attack is a "preliminary skirmish" to a war which will settle down to a battle on the Pacific Ocean.

Hosokawa was editor of The Singapore Herald, an English language newspaper, before returning here in October. He is a graduate of Garfield High School and the University of Washington.