W13L1 – Postwar Japan and the SCAP Occupation Flashcards
SCAP Occupation
demilitarize and democratize
American Occupation of Japan is often cited as the successful introduction of “democracy” to the
ex-ultranationalist country
Democracy a goal, but wide-ranging censorship exercised.
Criticism of SCAP censored & prohibited
Comfort-facilities to “service” the sexual needs of GIs – later banned likely to prevent the
spreading of STDs
Prevention of the General Strike of 1947 under the premise of it being “so deadly a social weapon”
Japanese (SCAP-imposed) constitution of 1947, aimed at reversing the illiberal and democratizing articles of the Meiji constitution
The “Peace” Constitution
Japan forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation
People as the “sovereign”
Diet declared the “highest organ of state power”
Bicameral but “house of peers” replaced by “house of councilors”
“House of representatives” expanded
Most cabinet members come from the lower “house of representatives”
Forbidding of discrimination on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin.
Women given equal rights: Voting, marriage, family, etc.
Only applicable to “Japanese
Reischauer Memo (Reading)
one of the founding fathers of East Asian Studies (especially “Japanese studies”) in postwar United States, he also served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan from 1961-1966.
He would eventually emerge as a central architect of the cold-war U.S.-Japan relations
Retention of the Japanese Emperor as the head of a “puppet regime” that
would serve U.S. interest in East Asia
“Symbolic Emperor System”
Shielding of the emperor from public criticism; few militarist scapegoated.
Turning of Japanese Americans into assets that could prove useful for
propaganda purposes to prove to the world that the U.S. was not a racist
nation
Formation of Japanese American Combat Unit (442nd Regimental
Combat Team) by President Roosevelt in 1943
Inclusion of Japan within American International Politics
The “Reverse Course”
Context of “Cold-war politics” – particularly the Korean War
Red Purge of all members of the Japanese communist party – lost of jobs, positions
Reinstatement of those purged under initial demilitarization/democratization – those purged mostly gained their rights by the end of 1951 (return of pre-1945 conservatives)
Withdrawal of the right to strike
Establishment of a national police force, and then a self-defense force (SDF)
Relinquish all claims to war reparations
San Francisco System
Signed Sept 8 1951, Came into Effect April 28, 1952
Multinational Treaty of Peace
US-Japan Security Treaty
Japan regained sovereignty except over Okinawa
“Two-Japans”
Territorial Issues
Rearmament
Exclusion of Japan from East Asia – prevention of reconciliation
Economy expanded during the Korean War Boom, to the early 1970s
Recap-Historical Context
Imperialism and Expansionism into Manchukuo/China
Over-stretching Military Resources
* Multiethnic Empire
* State Shinto
* Total War
Japanese Surrender, August 15, 1945
* War Trials: Military Leaders sentences to death / Life Imprisonment
* Japan in Shambles: Buildings bombed, cities in ruins
Post-War
Hunger”, Starvations, Lack
of Housing
Black Markets
sprang up everywhere
Children’s Popular Games
Repatriation of Soldiers and
“non-Japanese” subjects to their “home” countries.
American movies (and other cultural products) re-introduced
Anxiety toward occupational authorities (eventually) replaced by sense of relief and trust.
ZAIBATSU COMPANIES
Similar to Cartels
but organized by
one family
Four main ones:
Mitsui, Sumitomo,
Mitsubishi, Yasuda
Important players
from 1868-1945.
Dissolved in 1946.
