Japan and American Policy After World War II

The End of WWII and the Image of the US in Japan

The rebuilding of Japan after the second World War was overseen by General Douglas MacArthur. He set up the Supreme Commander Allied Powers regime or SCAP. He took nearly complete control for the United States and had only slight representation from other nations that had been in the alliance. Emperor Hirohito had announced surrender and the Japanese people accepted this.

General MacArthur had Japanese leadership for the most part except for the higher levels. They experienced a peaceful and a not overly oppressive rule from 1945 to 1952. Efforts to root out militarism and plant democracy got put into progress. Democracy had popular support from the Japanese and this direction got met by them enthusiastically. The local governments got given more power in order to minimize the authoritarianism that had existed before. General MacArthur started construction on rebuilding the railroads, roads, industry and the damages from the war. The emperor announced too that he had never been divine. This admittance had been important to Americans. He even had his picture taken against divine policy. People in Japan felt that this had been a bitter experience. Yet, it became viewed as not as bad as other occupations. The Japanese had respect for the Americans since they had been victorious in the fighting. Consequently the occupation and rebuilding got accomplished smoothly and quickly (pp.414-417).