Molly+Bean

**Guiding Question: To what extent did developments of the early Cold War period shape American policy toward occupied Japan?** To answer this question, American policies in Japan directly after the end of World War Two will be compared with the American policies developed in Japan during the escalation of the Cold War, and the correlation of any changes that occur between the two with major events and developments in the Cold War will also be explored. The two main sources used in this investigation will be John Dower's J // apan in War and Peace: Selected Essays // and Andrew Gordon's // A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present. // The main focus will be on the changes occurring during the time of the Chinese conversion to Communism.
 * A. Plan of Investigation **

**B. Summary of Evidence:** My summary of evidence is divided into the two distinct policies employed by the American Forces in Japan directly after the end of the war (I) and later on as the Cold War progressed (II).

As WWII ended in 1945, the United States approached Japan with the sentiment that they were “savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic”. The United States' sole purpose in occupying Japan was to “demilitarize and democratize” in order to prevent another war with Japan by “allow[ing] a greater range of political expression”  and “revolutioniz[ing] the distribution of social and economic power,”  as well as restricting the production and use of military resources. In order to facilitate such changes, many reforms and policies were put into practice. One of the changes brought to Japan was the American elimination of Zaibatsu (Japanese holding companies) and large farms, part of our policy of economic deconcentration, encouraging the spread of wealth to everyday Japanese citizens. Along with this distribution of land, Americans also wanted to give more rights to the Japanese people by encouraging the formation of labor unions, granting the people the right to strike, and legalizing all political parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, whose members were freed by American forces from previous imprisonment by the Japanese government as early as October 4, 1945. Among the most important steps taken in post-war Japan by the Americans as a preventative step against future war in Japan was the Tokyo Trial during which Japanese war criminals were tried, as well as the removal of nationalists and militarists from positions of power. However, the most significant change during this time was the addition of Article Nine to the new Japanese Constitution, drafted by the Americans, which stated that “the Japanese people forever renounce[d] war…as a means of settling international disputes,” and that “land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” In order to accomplish the aims of Article Nine, much of the initial American policy was geared to “repatriate and demobilize the Imperial army and navy, destroy military stocks, and abolish the entire military establishment”  The majority of the time, the Japanese gave an “enthusiastic popular response”  to such changes, seeing them as being for the good of the people and giving them the chance to start over after the complete devastation of the war.
 * I. Original American Policy: **
 * II: “Reverse Course Policy”[[file:///C:/Users/Molly/Documents/SUMMARY%20AND%20ANALYSIS.docx#_edn13|**[xiii]**]] **

As American occupation in Japan continued, a clear shift began to occur in the original policy, the goal changing from the “demilitarize and democratize” of Japan to its “rehabilitation…as a Cold War ally”. At first, changes in policy were simply halted, such as the sudden end of Zaibatsu division, but by the summer of 1948, American policy had taken a distinct “reverse course.” One of the first changes was the “reversal [of] occupation labor policy by withdrawing the right to strike form public employees,”  as many “communists were dominating labor unions…strik[ing] with explicitly political goals.”  Following this change were even more extreme reversals of policy, as well as the creation of new policies, preparing Japan for its new role in U.S. foreign relations. For example, despite extreme efforts to dissuade the Japanese from remilitarization, beginning in 1948, the United States “defense establishment was pushing fairly firmly in the direction of the long-term U.S. bases in Japan and Japanese rearmament.” By the end of July 1950, this “firm push” resulted in a complete rearmament policy, encouraging the Japanese to “accept military aid for a threefold expansion of its forces from the 110,000-man National Security Force [sanctioned by Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution] to an army of 350,000.”  Further, in a mirror of the Marshall Plan in Europe, in June 1948, the United States began the Economic Recovery in Occupied Areas Program, which devoted $108 million specifically for “economic recovery in Japan,”  in hopes that, by strengthening Japan economically, political stability would follow. Further, American policy in Japan went from being accepting to all parties, to restricting party membership, particularly for the increasingly popular Communist party, leading to “occupation style McCarthyism.” During this period of time, beginning in June 1950, “the Japanese bureaucratic apparatus [previously used for charging war criminals] was redirected to focus on persons associated with the political Left,”  resulting in “roughly thirteen thousand people [who were] alleged to be Communist Party members [being] ousted from their…jobs. ” Finally, the San Francisco Treaty, signed in 1951, while arranging for the end of U.S. occupation in Japan, was “first and foremost an anticommunist pact,” creating restrictions on Japanese freedoms, whereas the original American policy had focused mostly on creating a freer, more independent Japan. These restrictions included a U.S.-Japan Security Treaty which allowed a large U.S. military presence in Japan. However, “the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the peace treaty unless Japan agreed to sign a parallel treaty with the Nationalist Chinese regime in Taiwan…[as well as agreeing to] the rigorous American policy of isolating and economically containing the People’s Republic of China,” showing the overall contrast of the end of American policy in Japan with its initial purpose.

**C. Evaluation Of Sources**

Dower, John W. // Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays //. New York: New, 1993. Print.

The book, // Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays, // is a conglomeration of the works of John W. Dower, published in 1993. Dower is the Elting E. Morrison Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in Japanese history. The book gives insight into the relationship between American and Japan during the Cold War, and the policy change that ensued. However, the source is limited to the new policies created, and does not mention in depth the initial American policy in Japan.

Gordon, Andrew. // A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present //. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.

The book, // A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present, // published in 2003, was written by Andrew Gordon, Professor of History at Harvard University, Director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and member of the executive committee of the Asia Center. The book covers the history of Japan in the last two centuries, including a section on the American Occupation of Japan, which covers the difference between the original and final U.S. policies towards Japan. The book also investigates how the Cold War was behind these changes, and how the Japanese people responded to the changes. However, the source is limited to very broad information with few specific details.

As Cold War tensions developed between the United States and the USSR, a clear shift took place in American policy towards Japan from demilitarization and democratization to preparation of Japan as “the one country in Asia capable of holding the ‘ideological opponents’ of the United states at bay”. This “reconsideration of policy …occurred…[as] U.S. officials were becoming profoundly pessimistic about [Communist] trends elsewhere in Asia” such as China’s conversion to Communism , and growing problems between North and South Korea,  as well as the continued threat of communism in the USSR. In accordance with the Domino Theory, the United States felt that, if Communism was allowed in countries close to Japan like China and Korea, then Japan, too would soon fall into the hands of the Communists, so the change in policy became increasing important in United States foreign policy. The deciding factor in the policy change was China’s conversion to Communism, inspiring the United States to use Japan “as Asia’s ‘bulwark against Communism’,” essentially “surrounding China with a ‘defensive ring’  as a way to stop the spread of Communism. Japan was particularly important in the United States policy of containment of Communism because of its “strategic location … industrial capacity, and … large pool of trained civilian and military manpower… [becoming a] decisive factor in the balance of power in the Far East,” As a result, the United States military decided that it was “essential to ‘use Japan as a base for military operations in the Far East, including, if necessary, operations against the mainland of China…and the USSR,”  as well as using the country as a buffer against Communism for all other Asian countries by rooting out any hint of Communist theory in the country’s politics and culture.. In order to achieve these goals, it was necessary to make changes to the previously established policies on Japan’s military status and capabilities, as well as American additions to the Japanese government and previous political and social initiatives, such as the elimination of powerful Communist figures and severe restrictions on the Communist party, both of which were once approved, as well as the elimination of programs that resembled Communist ideology in any way, such as the division of the Zaibatsu, a program that originated as part of American policy. Further, rather than focusing on the reestablishment of Japan under the guidance of the United States, policy changed to give Japan more self-determination, including the early signing of a peace treaty. This was due to the fact that the United States wanted to paint themselves in a positive light for the Japanese, hoping that by speeding up the process of Japanese autonomy, the Japanese would view the United States as a good ally, agreeing to take a similar anti-communist position in the Cold War. Therefore, the conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan [was] more about ensuring a Cold War alliance with Japan than about liquidating the legacies of World War II”. Similarly, American policy at home was changed to accommodate the shift in American policy in Japan. “As the Cold War intensified and the occupiers came to identify newly communist China as the archenemy, it became an integral part of American policy itself to discourage recollection of Japan’s atrocities,” in an attempt to show just how much the United States wanted and needed Japan as an ally, rather than a former enemy and conquered nation. Overall, “in five years’ time, [Japan] was transformed from a bitter wartime enemy to the lynchpin, the key ally, in the new U.S. security structure in Cold War Asia”.
 * D. Analysis **

**E. Conclusion**

Between the beginning of American occupation in Japan and the withdrawal of American troops, a complete reversal of policy towards Japan occurred. Based on the evidence, this drastic change occurred in accordance with the increasing tensions of the Cold War, particularly the development of a Communist system in China. Although other factors certainly played a role in the American decision to change Japanese policy, the majority of the policies that were changed can be linked directly to Cold War origins and were created to benefit the United States fight against the spread of Communism.

**F. List of Sources**

Dower, John W. //Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999. Print.

Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print.

Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.

Parisi, Lynn. "Lessons on the Japanese Constitution - SPICE." //Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)//. Nov. 2002. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <[]>.

Pyle, Kenneth B. //Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose//. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Print.

Word Count:1,859

 Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 155  ibid  Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231.  Ibid 231  Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ibid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ibid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ibid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Parisi, Lynn. "Lessons on the Japanese Constitution - SPICE." //Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)//. Nov. 2002. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. < <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">[] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,166 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ibid 239. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 155 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Ibid 158 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W.//Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999.Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Ibid 271 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 239. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,174 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Pyle, Kenneth B. //Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose//. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Print,234. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Ibid 174 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,187 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ibid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 239. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,161 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 242. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W.//Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999.Print,552. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 174 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 179 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> Referral to the formation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong, and the expulsion of the Chinese Nationalist Government to Taiwan <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> The start of the Korean War in which Communist North Korea was viewed as a threat to Capitalist ideology by the United States <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> American theory that if one country fell to Communism other countries nearby would also become Communist <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 240. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,178. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> Ibid, 187 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> Ibid, 188. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Pyle, Kenneth B. //Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose//. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Print,223. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> Ibid, 225 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dower, John W.//Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999.Print, 508.

[i]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 155 [ii] ibid [iii] Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231. [iv] Ibid 231 [v]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print [vi] ibid [vii]Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231. [viii]ibid [ix] ibid [x]Parisi, Lynn. "Lessons on the Japanese Constitution - SPICE." //Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)//. Nov. 2002. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. < [] >. [xi]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,166 [xii]Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 231. [xiii]ibid 239. [xiv]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print, 155 [xv] Ibid 158 [xvi]Dower, John W.//Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999.Print. [xvii] Ibid 271 [xviii]Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 239. [xix]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,174 [xx]Pyle, Kenneth B. //Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose//. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Print,234. [xxi] Ibid 174 [xxii]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,187 [xxiii] ibid [xxiv]Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 239. [xxv]Dower, John W. //Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays//. New York: New, 1993. Print,161 [xxvi]Gordon, Andrew. //A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present//. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print, 242. [xxvii]Dower, John W.//Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II//. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1999.Print,552.