Rebuilding Japan After World War II

1. Rebuilding Japan After World War II

2. Reasons for Rebuilding Japan

3. Reasons for US Rebuilding Japan • Stop the spread of communism throughout Asia • Promote democracy in the region by reforming Japan’s monarchy into a constitutional monarchy • Improve Japan’s economy in order to trade with Japan and sell US products to Japan’s market • Devastation of dropping atomic bombs on Japan

4. MacArthur • General Douglas MacArthur, the American commander of the occupied forces, was given the job of putting Japan back on its feet. • He was expected to create a Japan that would guarantee it would not pose a military threat to other countries in the future. • MacArthur wanted Japan to have a democratic government, but he also appreciated the important place the Japanese emperor occupied in the Japanese culture.

5. The Occupation • 1945 - 1952 • Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) - General Douglas MacArthur • Two main tasks: • demilitarization • democratization

6. Condition of Japan Immediately After Surrender

7. Think About This: • “After Hiroshima and Nagasaki nothing was ever the same again ... the use of the atomic bomb in August 1945 changed the world more dramatically than any single event before.” • Chronicle of the World (1989).

8. Quotation From an Expert We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another. -J. Robert Oppenheimer A response from Oppenheimer, mastermind behind the atomic bomb, after being interviewed about his creations.

9. To frighten the Russians so that they wouldn’t confront the West. A military weapon to end the war quickly, save lives and keep the Russians out of the war. Eastern Europe To test the weapon on live human beings to see what effect it had. Revenge for Pearl Harbor and Japanese war crimes against Allied prisoners of war Different Interpretations Why did the USA drop The Atomic Bombs on Japan?

10. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Forced Japan to surrender and the end of the war. August 6, 1945 _______ ______ August 9, 1945 Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer headed the new U.S. laboratory built to design an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer recommended a remote site in New Mexico for the new facility, where project scientists, many of them world-famous, could work together in complete secrecy. The Los Alamos Laboratory was opened in April 1943.

11. The Bomb • August 6, 1945—Hiroshima • Enola Gay (bomber plane) drops Little Boy • 140,000 died immediately • 100,000+ seriously injured • August 9, 1945—Nagasaki • Fat Man • 74,000 Immediate Deaths • 75,000+ serious injuries

12. Map Showing the Damage Done to Hiroshima The centre of the explosion was hotter than the surface of the sun!

13. Within a few seconds the thousands of people in the streets and the gardens in the center of the town were scorched by a wave of searing heat. Many were killed instantly, others lay writhing on the ground, screaming in agony from the intolerable pain of their burns. Everything standing upright in the way of the blast, walls, houses, factories, and other buildings, was annihilated. ~ Japanese journalist, August 6, 1945. “I could see below the mushroom cloud…the thing reminded me more of a boiling pot of tar than any other description I can give. It was black and boiling underneath with a steam haze on top of it…We had seen the city when we flew in, and there was nothing to see when we came back. It was covered by this boiling, black-looking mass.” ~ Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. (pilot, Enola Gay) 8:15 a.m. Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945

16. Note two effects of Allied bombing raids on Japan. Destroyed numerous cities, shattered the economy, caused deaths of two million people. In the background are the remains of a Roman Catholic cathedral on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan following the atomic blast of Aug. 9, 1945.

17. Casualties from the US bombing of Japanese cities in 1945

18. Japan’s Post-War Infrastructure • Much of Japan’s infrastructure had been completely destroyed by battle and atomic bombs. • infrastructure- the basic structures or features of a city or nation; transportation, communication, sewage, water, and electric systems are all a part of infrastructure.

19. Reforms Made to Japan

20. JAPANESE CHANGES

21. Rebuilding and Improving Infrastructure

22. Postwar Political Developments Infrastructure • Increased paved roads • High speed ‘bullet train’ began service between Osaka and Tokyo in 1964 • New trunk line, ‘shinkansen’

23. Land Reform and Labor Reorganization

24. Rebuilding Japan • Labor reorganization • Unionization – democratization • Dec. 1945 Trade Union Law right to organize bargain and strike. • 1946 – I million to 4.5 million members. • Land Reform 2/3 of arable land – tenants rents, • 1946 Land Reform Act – 5 million acres –redistributed in 2-5 years

25. Education Reform

26. Postwar Social Developments Education (Post SCAP) • Hierarchical system remained: middle school, high school, college or university • Increasing number of youths advanced to high school • Educated-based hierarchy

27. Reforms Relating to Gender and Family

28. Postwar Political Developments Women’s Status (SCAP period) • Recruiting women to work as prostitutes in ‘Recreation and Amusement Centers • Extended civil and political rights to women • First post-war elections: 39 women were elected to the Diet, 10% of the seats • But the dominant position of males in the family and in society at large was not overturned by constitutional reform

29. Postwar Social Developments Women’s Status (Post SCAP period) • Shifted from working in textile companies to electronic companies • Living in company housing and enjoying very constraining benefits of paternalistic management policies

30. Postwar Social Developments Gender Inequality • Male graduates: entered managerial positions • Female graduates: faced tremendous barriers • Schooling for female: courses in home economics, health—learned the skills of good wives and mothers

31. Postwar Social Developments Family Pattern • Nuclear families & extended families: co-existed • Single family homes of middle-classes • Extended family pattern changed • Arranged marriage to ‘love marriage’

32. Cultural Reforms

33. Postwar Social Developments Cultural and Leisure Activities/Living Style • Mass media continued to play a key role • Provided powerful sense of belonging • TV broadcasting-NHK • Change in social consciousness

34. Demilitarization and War Criminal Reforms

35. Demilitarization • Purged almost all wartime officers and politicians • Disbanded almost all militaristic associations and parties • Prosecuted almost all war criminals • The issue of Yasukuni Shrine • Dismantled almost all war industries

36. War Criminals • Yasukuni Shrine was built in Meiji 2 (1869) • Japan’s Pacific War criminals have been worshipped in it since 1978 • Strong protests from other Asian countries

37. The "Peace Clause" • Article 9 in the 1947 constitution: • “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes • “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained”

38. PP.155-56 Article 9 Controversy • Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. • In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. • Renunciation of war • No possession of military forces • Denial of the state’s right of belligerency

39. US-Japan Mutual Security Pact • Forged in the wake of World War II, the U.S.-Japan security alliance has served as one of the region's most important military relationships and as an anchor of the U.S. security role in Asia. • Revised in 1960, the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security grants the United States the right to military bases on the archipelago in exchange for a U.S. pledge to defend Japan in the event of an attack. • Signed in 1951 alongside the Treaty of San Francisco that ended World War II, the original U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty was a ten-year, renewable military agreement that outlined a security arrangement for Japan in light of its pacifist constitution. U.S. forces would remain on Japanese soil after Japan regained sovereignty. • A grand strategy for postwar Japan laid out by then prime minister Yoshida Shigeru that saw Japan rely on the United States for its security needs so the country could focus on its own economic recovery.

40. Political Reforms

41. Government Choices • MacArthur decided to Japan would be a constitutional monarchy. • A constitutional monarchy is one where… • He wrote a constitution for the country, still referred to as The MacArthur Constitution, that created a two –house parliament called a Diet.

42. JAPANESE REFORMS (Changes)1947 • Political, economic, and social reforms were introduced, such as a freely elected Japanese Diet (legislature) and universal adult suffrage (voting rights). • Japan establishes a constitutional monarchy. Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito. www.wikipedia.org

43. Japan’s New Constitution • The constitution created a two-house parliament called The Diet. • Everyone over the age of 20 could vote for members of the Diet. • The constitution also included a Bill of Rights and guaranteed basic freedoms. • The emperor remained as a symbol of the country, but was stripped of his power.

44. Japan’s New Constitution • The constitution stated that Japan could never again declare war on another country. • Japan is allowed to fight only if it is attacked first. • Japan could not use its land, sea, or air forces to settle international disputes. • Today, the Japanese government is one of the strongest in the world.

45. Japan’s Constitution • In Japan’s new constitution • The emperor remained as a symbol of the country. • The people were granted universal suffrage • Everyone over the age of 20 was allowed to vote for member of the Diet • It also contained a Bill of Rights and guaranteed basic freedoms. • One clause in this constitution prevents Japan from declaring war. They are allowed to fight ONLY if they are attacked first.

46. FREE ELECTIONSAND WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4152602444592357615

47. US ENDS OCCUPATION OF JAPAN1952 US ends their occupation of Japan in 1952. Japan is granted membership into the United Nations in 1957.

49. Economic Reforms

50. Postwar Recovery 1945-49 • The Japanese economy collapsed due toinput shortage. Inflation surged. Livingstandards plummeted. • The US occupied Japan and forceddemocratization and demilitarization(but later partly reversed). • Subsidies and US aid supported the war-torn economy. • The priority production system, based on economic planning, contributed to output recovery (1947-48). • Inflation was ended by Dodge Line stabilization (1949). Army GeneralDouglas MacArthur, head of GHQ