A discussion of Japanese topic construction argues that topicalization is merely an attachment of the topic particle "wa". It also proposes that other operations associated with this construction, such as movement and base-generation, are not specifically related to topicalization but can be explained in terms of more general rules of Japanese. It is suggested that the analysis offered is more adequate, covers a wider range of data, and proposes simpler rules of topicalization than previous research. (MSE)