American Occupation and Postwar Tokyo

American Occupation and Postwar Tokyo

Total defeat Japanese military destroyed Domestic infrastucture destroyed Starving civilian population State apparatus intact Allied powers decided to leave Hirohito on throne

Surrender Hiroshima bombed August 6 Nagasaki bombed August 9 Emperor broadcasts surrender Aug 15 MacArthur lands at Atsugi Aug. 31 Surrender documents signed on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2

Planning for occupation Extensive training of US language officers, Civil Government Teams Occupation troops not generally combat veterans Occupation worked through existing government channels

Occupation reforms Renunciation of Imperial divinity Dissestablishment of Shinto as state religion -- freedom of religion Woman s suffrage & equal rights Education reform Language reform Land reform

Occupation reforms Decolonization Political liberalization Attempts to dissolve zaibatsu Food relief

Occupation reforms 1947 Constitution Written by Americans Establishes Emperor as symbol of the state not as sovereign Article 9 -- renounces the use of war as a perogative of sovereign nation state

Constitution Revision of the constitution is now the major item on the Japanese political agenda Multiple versions are being circulated Article 9 and status of Emperor are key points of debate

Occupied Tokyo Spatial segregation of US troops and civilians to large extent US took over existing military facilities in city, as well as many other renamed streets (Ave. A, Ave. B, etc.) Many vestiges of US Occupation facilities remained in city until 1970s Returned facilities often recycled into major public works -- e.g. Olympic facilties for 1964, Hikarigaoka apartment city in late 60s, early 70s

Occupied Tokyo Rapid Americanization of popular culture (Tokyo Boogie Woogie) Fashions, films, food styles, lifestyle changes Social class (recall point made earlier that previous sources of cultural capital no longer valid points of reference)

MacArthur s children Teens and early 20ish Japanese (during the immediate postwar period), highly influenced by American ideas Also extreme poverty -- extensive black markets -- Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Ueno, and elsewhere Widespread prostitution, state-sponsored

American geopolitics & Tokyo Initial intention to remake Japan as an agrarian democracy Chinese revolution 1949 outbreak of Korean War, 1950 Concerns with Soviet efforts to claim parts of Northern Japan

American geopolitics & Tokyo US Occupation underwent reverse course Japan to be industrial democracy and base for US military efforts to contain communism in East Asia

American geopolitics & Tokyo Tokyo (and Japanese economy generally) benefitted as staging area for Korean War Occupation officially ended in 1952, US troops and facilities remained (and some still remain)

1950s Tokyo Rebuilding domestic economy and infrastucture Emphasis on developing exportoriented industry to new markets (Asian markets not accessible) P.M. Ikeda announces National Income Doubling Plan -- high speed economic growth from 1950s thru mid-1970s

High-speed economic growth Urban migration accelerates Urban density increases Heavy industry grows faster than other sectors Environmental issues given low priority Personal income rises only gradually; re-investment in industrial protection

High-speed economic growth Three underlying causes Intensive investment Export-driven production Domestic consumption

The Three Treasures of 1950s new middle class life Washing machine B&W Television Refrigerators

The Three C s of 1960s new middle class life Color Television Car Cooler (air conditioner)

The growth of danchi Public housing for urban middle classes Standardized housing 2K -- two tatami rooms and a kitchen (evolves into 2DK, 3DK, 3LDK) (tatami as modular unit of measurement)