- MacArthur attempted to avoid officials with military affiliates from being in power. (Hanneman)
- “Japan was isolated from normal contacts with the outside world for most of the period concerned.” (Ward)
- SCAP purged the military cabinet and dismantled the secret police. 2,500 prisoners, many of which were communists, were released. The Peace Preservation Law was no longer in effect. (Hanneman)
- War criminals were classified by ranks ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ according to their level of crime, and were sentenced to prisoned or executed. (Hanneman)
- MacArthur "secretly urged Japanese leaders to create an army of between three hundred thousand and three hundred fifty thousand men" (Dower)
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Democratization Policies (Including Educational reforms)
- The new Japanese constitution was announced on March 6, 1946 by SCAP. (Ward)
- MacArthur implemented un-democratic means from any political charge being imposed on Emperor Hirohito, such as threatening of General Tojo to change his testimonial. (Coates)
- The U.S. introduced a universal suffrage to Japan, guaranteeing human rights. (Hanneman)
- “A Tokyo stage show in which one of the cast sang ‘how can we have democracy with two emperors?’ (ie Hirohito and MacArthur) was banned.” (Coates)
- In January 1947, MacArthur enacted a ban on the general strike of public sector workers, who were resisting the government attacks on rail and other public sectors. (Coates)
- “A new constitution went into effect in 1947: The emperor lost all political and military power, and was solely made the symbol of the state.” (Japanese History)
- The SCAP enacted a complete revision of Japanese civil code in 1948, turning the patriarchal pre-war values into democratic values, under which “women gained the right to free choice of spouse and where to live” (Hanneman)
- Evaluation of Sources
The origin of the first source is a book authored by Mary L. Hanneman, “Japan Faces the World 1925-1952.” Published in 2000, the purpose of this secondary source is to convene accurate information about Japan’s history on the years 1925 to 1952 to the public, especially students. This book is useful as a source in that it is a verified teaching material widely used by schools, and conveys accurate information. The book’s content matches the topic, as it covers Japan’s modern history in detail. In addition, Dr. Mary L. Hanneman has a Ph.D on Japanese history and is an author of two books that both specialize in Japanese history, which adds credit to the author’s reliability. However, the limit of this source is that the chapters that cover the actual Occupation approximate 30 pages, which implies possible loss of detail. Another limit is that the book’s focus is not on policies but general history of modern Japan, and thus the book may lack details about specific policies required for answering the research question.
The origin of the second source is a journal article from the April—May 2003 issue of Socialism Today. This is a review on John Dower’s book (thus a secondary source). The author, Laurence Coates, is a Sweden-based journalist and social activist who writing for Socialism Today. The source, despite its medium as a book review, is valuable in that it illustrates Socialist perspective upon the topic, providing not only arguments against the effectiveness of U.S. policies but also additional historical facts regarding U.S. policies that back up its view upon the topic. Thus, this source provides several valid points arguing against the effectiveness of U.S. policies in Japan. This source, however, is limited in that the author is also a socialist activist and thus evokes a possibility that the journalistic value of truthfulness may be imperfect. Another limitation of this article as a historical source is that the nuance of information may not be transferred perfectly considering the article’s medium as a book review.
- Analysis
The US occupation of Japan during the years 1945 to 1952 was a change as abrupt as the Meiji Restoration, completely dismantling and reconstructing the political system of Japan. With Douglas MacArthur as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), the U.S. had two main objectives they sought to fulfill in its occupation of Japan: demilitarization and democratization. In order to determine how effective the U.S. policies were, a separate analysis of respective objectives should be conducted.
In the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Japan, SCAP’s objective for Japan was complete demilitarization. This was done by forbidding of organization of an army and the ability to wage a war. However, the course of achieving this was not as smooth. Due to the massive number of Japanese “war machine” spread along Asia, food shortages that slowed down demobilizations and soldiers’ refusal to surrender made this process extremely cumbersome. (Hanneman) Since the demilitarization of Japan took over two years—out of three years that U.S. had initially planned to occupy Japan for (Coates)—the demilitarization policy can be deemed a time-wise failure.
On the other hand, SCAP was keen on elimination of war criminals. MacArthur rebuilt the ruling system, making the Diet the base for power to eliminate former military officials from positions of power. (Hanneman) Moreover, the systematic categorization and punishment of war criminals during 1946—1949 was successful, as it led to the military’s separation from politics. However, Coates criticizes that MacArthur did not charge the emperor of any guilt, despite evident affiliation of Emperor Hirohito on Japan’s decisions made during the war. “When the hapless General Tojo, who was later executed, inadvertently implicated Hirohito by stating in court that no government official could have acted against the emperor’s wishes, he was prevailed upon by the Americans to change his testimony and clear his boss, which he did.” (Coates)
The eventual result of Japan’s disarmament was Japan’s “self-defence forces” being one of the most powerful armies in the world. (Arashi Shimbun Staff) This can be deemed as a consequential failure of the U.S. to demilitarize Japan. When the wind of Communism struck the U.S. as potential threats in 1948, MacArthur changes the course of Japanese rehabilitation from a peaceful country to an economic powerhouse which could outstand Communist threats. SCAP was known to have secretly urged Japan to grow a sizeable defensive force of over 300,000 men. (Dower)
Another main objective of the U.S. was Japan’s democratization. MacArthur imposed a new constitution, redirecting Japanese norm from a patriarchal, military-based ideal to democratic values. Universal suffrage was granted along with improved women’s rights to choose their spouses and live where they wished to. (Hanneman) The amount of freedom given to the Japanese—compared to the pre-war and wartime militaristic periods—was tremendous. However, MacArthur also imposed a censorship upon Japanese media. “A Tokyo stage show in which one of the cast sang ‘how can we have democracy with two emperors?’ (ie Hirohito and MacArthur) was banned.” (Coates) Also, a general strike in 1947, where Japanese railroad and other public sector workers rose up to defend their positions were militarily dismantled. (Coates)
Another controversy regarding the U.S. success on Japan’s democratization involves Emperor Hirohito, who was exempted of any charges and virtually made “invisible” during the war trial periods 1946—1949. (Coates) SCAP’s announcement of a new constitution promoted democracy and equality. Following this, Emperor Hirohito was lifted of all political and military powers. (Hanneman) However, MacArthur kept the system of Empire within Japan, the very representation of medieval hierarchy.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, U.S. policies within occupied Japan had both successes and failures. The objective of demilitarization was carried out thoroughly, eliminating war criminals and military affiliates from positions of power. But it was also ineffective in that the U.S. occupation ultimately helped Japan build one of the most advanced military forces in the world. Controversies continue onto the second objective, democratization, which established one of the earliest democratic governments in Asia with full voting rights and structural gender equality. However, the presence of Japanese Royalty that was supported by SCAP, the U.S. control over Japanese media and the military dismantlement of democratic strikes pose a doubt to whether democracy was really supported by the U.S. To conclude, the U.S. policies in Japan during its occupation were effective in some aspects, but not entirely successful.
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Bibliography (Main two sources bolded)
Asahi Shimbun Staff. The Pacific rivals; a Japanese view of Japanese-American relations. New York: Weatherhill. 1972. Print.
Coates, Laurence. "The US occupation of Japan." Socialist Today. Apr. 2003: n. page. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat – Japan in the Aftermath of World War I. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. Web.
Hanneman, Mary L.. Japan Faces the World 1925-1952. Essex: Pearson Educational Limited, 2001. 84-115. Print.
Huffman, James L.. Japan in World History. USA: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
"Japanese history: Postwar (since 1945)." Japan-guide.com. japan-guide.com, 09 Jun 2002. Web. 18 Mar 2012. <http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2124.html>.
Ward, Robert E.. "The American Occupation of Japan: Political Retrospect." The American Occupation of Japan: A Retrospective View. Comp. Grant K. Goodman. New York, 1968. Web. 18 Mar. 2012.
Weisman, Steven R. "For Japanese, Flag and Anthem Sometimes Divide." New York Times. n. page. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/29/world/for-japanese-flag-and-anthem-sometimes-divide.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm>.
