Occupation and After - 1945-1952
A period of demilitarization and democratization followed in Japan (1945-47). Under the direction of General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), Japan's army and navy ministries were abolished, munitions and military equipment were destroyed, and war industries were converted to civilian uses. War crimes trials found 4,200 Japanese officials guilty; 700 were executed, and 186,000 other public figures were purged. State Shinto was disestablished, and on January 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito repudiated his divinity. MacArthur pushed the government to amend the 1889 Meiji Constitution, and on May 3, 1947, the new Japanese constitution (often called the "MacArthur Constitution") came into force. Constitutional reforms were accompanied by economic reforms, including agricultural land redistribution, reestablishment of trade unions, and severe proscriptions on zaibatsu.
The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers toppled the feudalistic structure through a series of directives that laid the foundation for a new democratic society. In a precedent-shattering first year, the Japanese military machine was demobilized and disarmed, the sovereignty of the Emperor was transferred to the people, universal suffrage was enacted, a militaristic police system was reformed, freedom was given to political parties, labor was granted the right to organize and bargain collectively and religion was eliminated as an instrument of the state.
Major reforms continued in the second year. A new constitution was adopted making democratic rights the fundamental law of the land. The decentralization of Japan's national government was accomplished by popular election of local and prefectural (state) officials and granting local government wide powers and responsibilities. The civil code was revised in order to free women from virtual bondage by granting them social and economic equality. A land reform program was instituted to break up large land holdings and create a new class of small landowners from among the former tenants. Private trade with foreign countries was resumed on a limited basis as the first step toward restoration of normal economic life.
Significant in the reformation was the manner in which it was brought about. Japan had no direct military government such as in German or Korea. Instead, with the broad outlines for reorientation established, the Japanese were given the responsibilities for carrying out policies laid down in the Supreme Commander's directives. They were allowed to conduct their won affairs unless they violated the basic objectives of the occupation as outlined in the Potsdam Declaration.
SCAP's directive establishing civil liberties--issued a few weeks after the occupation began--was followed by instructions that labor unions be encouraged. The Diet passed a law guaranteeing workers the right to organize and bargain collectively. Unions were forced at an unprecedented rate. Labor organizations and their memberships jumped from five unions with 5300 members in October 1945 to 36,000 unions with nearly 7,000,000 members by the middle of 1949.
Meanwhile, business also was being decentralized. The Japanese economy before and during the war was dominated by the Zaibatsu--a few powerful families who controlled the major part of Japan's industry, mining, finance and commerce and, to a large extent, the livelihood of the Japanese people. Although the United States occupation dismantled both the military and zaibatsu establishments, it did little, outside of abolishing the prewar Home Ministry, to challenge the power of the bureaucracy. There was considerable continuity--in institutions, operating style, and personnel-- between the civil service before and after the occupation, partly because MacArthur's staff ruled indirectly and depended largely on the cooperation of civil servants.
A process of mutual co-optation occurred. Also, United States policy planners never regarded the civil service with the same opprobrium as the military or economic elites. The civil service's role in Japan's militarism was generally downplayed. Many of the occupation figures themselves were products of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and had strong faith in the merits of civil service professionalism. Finally, the perceived threat of the Soviet Union in the late 1940s created a community of interests for the occupiers and for conservative, social order-conscious administrators.
The relatively rapid stabilization of Japan led to a relaxation of SCAP purges and press censorship. Quick economic recovery was encouraged, restrictions on former zaibatsu members eventually were lifted, and foreign trade was allowed. Finally, in September 1951 fifty-one nations met in San Francisco to reach a peace accord with Japan. China, India, and the Soviet Union participated in the conference but did not sign the treaty, formally known as the Treaty of Peace. Japan renounced its claims to Korea, Taiwan, Penghu, the Kuril Islands, southern Sakhalin, islands it had gained by League of Nations mandate, South China Sea islands, and Antarctic territory, while agreeing to settle disputes peacefully according to the United Nations Charter. Japan's rights to defend itself and to enter into collective security arrangements were acknowledged. The 1952 ratification of the Japan-United States Mutual Security Assistance Pact also ensured a strong defense for Japan and a large postwar role in Asia for the United States.
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