There were receptions by the Governor of Tokyo and Finance Minister Ichimada, and then leaders of the Seinendan, a four-million-strong youth organisation, called on Buchman. He asked them to come to Mackinac next summer.

On the fifth day, the Emperor's birthday, Buchman and all his team took breakfast with the Prime Minister and a flock of his children and grandchildren. Like Buchman he moved with difficulty after a stroke but did not allow it to interfere with his activity or good humour. He thanked Buchman particularly for what Moral Re-Armament had done for his daughter and her husband. He had been asked to write for the Japanese edition of the Reader's Digest in the series 'The most unforgettable man I have known'. In it he described Buchman's visit, ending with the words, 'We Japanese must not betray his conviction that Japan can be the lighthouse and the powerhouse of Asia. As I face the scene in the Diet I cannot but long that the spirit of MRA would permeate the lives of every single member. When the people of Japan and of the world live the spirit of MRA real peace will come.'13

When Buchman appeared in the distinguished visitors' gallery of the Upper House two days later he was accorded an ovation, which apparently had never been previously given to anyone other than a state guest or a senior parliamentarian. Passing on to the Lower House he found a bitter fight in progress. The Government was trying to press through an electoral reform bill which the Socialists thought would deprive them of fifty seats. The Socialists had already forced two all-night sessions and were planning to use the next day, which happened to be 1 May, to create riots in the streets. The Conservatives, meanwhile, were thinking of using police powers inside the Diet, a move reminiscent of the old repressive days.

Over luncheon and at a packed meeting afterwards, Buchman brought a mood of gaiety and relaxation into this heavily-charged situation. The senior members of the two main parties, Niro Hoshijima and Tetsu Katayama, both of whom knew Buchman well, welcomed him, each stressing the timeliness of his visit. 'To welcome this man of peace at this moment of crisis gives me hope that we shall find an answer to the deadlock between our parties,' said Katayama, the former Socialist Prime Minister. Buchman then told in colourful detail the stories of the recent reconciliations in Tunisia and Morocco. That evening, at a meeting elsewhere in Tokyo, Hoshijima suddenly mounted the platform and announced that he had just come from the Diet where a special meeting between the parties had agreed that the offensive Bill should be sent back to committee. 'Violence has been averted and we owe it to Dr Buchman,' he said, a verdict soon endorsed by Socialist Senators Togano and Kato.

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