The Reverse Course

1947-1950

GO!
 Where we are at:
The US occupation (1945–1952):
social, political and cultural
changes; the reverse course (1950)
 What is the ‘Reverse Course’?
● A nickname given to the second stage of
the post-war occupation of Japan, during
which time some of the initial aims of
the occupation were reversed.
● Sharp shifts and backpedaling against
initial goals of occupation
 What were the original goals of the
occupation?
Throughout this lesson, make careful note of how the original goals were
dismantled
● Complete dismantling of Japan as an industrial power
● Eliminating Japan’s potential to make war
● Turning Japan into a democratic nation with a new constitution
● Demilitarisation of Japan
● Punishing those responsible for the war
● Dismantling the Zaibatsu
● Women’s rights
 Seeing Red

● A Red Purge of
● Allowance for a
“leftists” –
more liberal
particularly
representation of
communists,
various political
leading to
groups
thousands losing
their jobs
 Zaibatsu

● Dismantle the ● Attempts

Zaibatsu abandoned in
pursuit of
economic
recovery
Elimination as an Industrial Power

● Dismantling of ● The US needed

Japan as an Japan as a strong
Industrial Power ally and decided to
actively recover
Japan’s economy
 Demilitarisation

● Complete ● A 75,000
demilitarisation as “defence” para-
outlined in Article 9 military force
called the
National Police
Reserve
How do we
get here?
The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War
Japan, along with Germany, played a central
role in the Cold War. Both countries fought
against the United States and its allies during
World War II, and both emerged as key
objectives and participants in the contest
between the Soviet- and American-led blocs.
As early as 1947 , Under Secretary of State
Dean Acheson declared that Western security
required the restoration of these “ two great
workshops ” of Europe and Asia.
 The Cold War
● Growing fears of Soviet and communist expansion in Asia
● Legitimized by China’s clear path towards Communism
● America’s close alliance with Japan put a picket fence of naval forces and
economic aid that helped to block Soviet expansion in East Asia and to
bring the Cold War to an end.
● Japan can no longer be eliminated as a military power
 Rebuilding Economy
● In 1947 and 1948 the U.S. government in Washington decided to actively
promote the recovery of Japan’s devastated economy.
● “During most of the 1950 s and 1960 s, American officials typically
worried that Japan ’ s need for raw materials and markets might provide
Communist powers with leverage to pull Tokyo into their orbit.
American strategists considered it vital to keep Japan ’ s industrial base
out of Soviet or Chinese hands while utilizing Japan as a staging area
for air, sea, and land power in East Asia.”
● Neither the Korean War or Vietnam War could have been fought without
Japanese bases
 Article 9 – Regret?
● Article 9 will become increasingly regretted by American occupiers
● The Japanese will resent constant prodding from Washington for Tokyo to
boost its military posture during the Cold War.
● Japan did not want to be the US’ “enforcer” in Asia
● Yoshida Shigeru, postwar prime minister, insisted that rearmament would
come some day, until then, it was best to “ let the Americans handle ”
Japan ’ s security.
The Cold War and Japan
 W a r
o k y o
T ls
T r ia

no wn
k
Also F E r
s I M T bunal fo r t h e Fa
a Tri
il i tary
n a l M East
n t e rn a ti o
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 The Tokyo Trials
● What is a war crime? In what instances have war crimes been discussed in
class? What do you think should be done to perpetrators of war crimes?
● Modeled after Nuremberg
● the United States initiated the arrests of 28 Japanese leaders and led the subsequent
trials from May 3, 1946, to November 12, 1948. Arrested Japanese leaders faced
charges of war crimes, crimes committed against prisoners of war, and crimes
against humanity.
● No trial of Hirohito
 Tokyo War Trials

● The goal of trying Japanese war criminals was set during the Potsdam
● Conference. The Potsdam Declaration states that the goal was not to
enslave the Japanese or destroy them as a race, but “stern justice shall be
meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited
cruelties upon our prisoners.”
● The most well-known defendant was Hideki Tojo.
● The trial lasted for over two years. Verdicts and sentences were presented
in November 1948.
 Tokyo War Trials
● Of the 25 defendants who sat
through the duration of the
trial, all were found guilty on at
least one charge. Seven
defendants, including Tojo,
received the death penalty, and
16 received life in prison, with
the other two receiving lesser
sentences of 20 years and 7
years in prison
 Controversy

● A ‘victor’s justice’ – the allies never stood trial

● Even two of the judges in the trials gave very strong dissenting voices
against the military tribunal – rejected its legitimacy
● No testimony allowed that implicated the Emperor
● Strict censorship in Japanese media of any criticism towards Imperial
government of against SCAP itself
● Historians have argued that MacArthur’s actions had a profound
effect on distorting the Japanese public’s general understanding
about the war.
 Impact

● Ultimately, the punitive nature of the trials was scaled back significantly
in order to win Japanese favour and preserve the integrity of the US
occupation in Japan
Additional Video: Tokyo War Crime Trials
 Red
Purge
 Red Purge
● Reforms such as the Trade Union Act, passed in December 1945,
guaranteed the right of workers to form trade unions and to strike.
● But these policies towards left-wingers were reversed - there was a shift
in who was deemed politically acceptable - and some communists
were purged.

○ Thousands of left wing officials were removed from government and

positions within trade unions. The US also became less supportive of
strikes. Around 22,000 people lost their jobs.

○ In 1948 strikes by civil servants were prohibited and this was extended in
1950 to all public sector workers.
Security
Treaty
1952
 Security Treaty of 1952
● Security Treaty of 1952 allowed US troops to move into Japan. The US
stationed 55,000 troops in Japan and kept a powerful fleet in the region
● The Security Treaty was controversial in Japan:
○ It seemed to violate Japanese sovereignty and it did not restrict the use of US
bases or military forces. 

○ Fears of being dragged into a war begun by the US

● However, in 1955 the government set up a Self Defense Force stating it

was for the national defense.
 no my
Ec o
Zaibatsu

Break them up! Bring them back!

Realisation that Japan
Key holding companies
needs the Zaibatsu in
abolished, increase in shared
order to aid in its
ownership
economic recovery
 Economic Reversal
● The United States realised they needed to rebuild Japan's Pan Asian
economic role while keeping the military in their hands.
● Rehabilitation of the Zaibatsu - “the men who were the most active in
building up and running Japan’s war machine- militarily and
industrially- were often the ablest and most successful business
leaders of that country, and their services would in many instances
contribute to the economic recovery of Japan.”
● The US realizes that the Japanese economy is not recovering on its own,
and in addition it produces a net drain on the United States of half a
billion dollars per year
 The Great Crescent
● A secure Japan – in the “Great Crescent”
would help support Southeast Asia against
Chinese communism and vice versa
● The relationship required Japan to have
access to secure, affordable raw materials and
markets in Southeast Asia
● Japan’s 1947 production had declined to 1/3 of
pre-war levels
● Difficulties in securing reliable trading partners –
China is communist, Southeast Asia has only
recent memories of the horrors of Japanese
colonisation
 pa n ’s
Ja i c
o m
Econ le
i ra c
M
Ph o enix
The
Rises
 The Phoenix Rises
● On June 25th, 1950 North Korea invades South
Korea and this becomes the catalyst for a total
reverse course of the US occupation.
● Within days, the United States with through the
United Nations, commits ground troops to Korea
naval units to Taiwan to ensure that change.
● The wars in Korea and Vietnam possess
intimate connections with the US reverse course
and their agenda in Japan during their
occupation
 The Phoenix Rises

● Japan itself is saved by the Korean War.

● The U S needs a heavy industry base in a friendly Asian state in
reasonable proximity to Korea to finance and support.
● Logistically, militarily, industrially, economically – Japan is well situated
for this war
● In addition, Japan’s heavy industry and economy was already orientated
towards war
 Saving the Economy

● U S heavy industry orders will reach $860 million a year after the Korean
War breaks out, invigorating the entire Japanese economy
● By 1954, the United States has spent $3 billion in 1950s
● The Toyota Corporation was on the verge of collapse in exploring a
merger with Ford in Detroit when U S orders for Toyota trucks became
their “Salvation”.
 l i ti c
Po
s
Distinctive Features of Japanese Politics

Bureaucrats
Dominated by
played a more
Conservatives
significant role

Loyalty tended to
Yoshida becomes
be less towards a
dominant in the
party policy and
post-war political
more toward a
scene
leading figure
 Change
and
Continuity
 Change Continuity
Redistribution of Power Progress towards democracy

More popular participation Liberal tradition

Land Reform Continuation of Japanese government

Trade Union Power Imperial system remained

Legal Change Bureaucracy unchanged

Economic Recovery and Growth Consensual decision making

Improved foreign relations

 Treaty
of San
Francisco
 Treaty of San Francisco – 8 September, 1951

● It ended Japan's role as an imperial

power, allocated compensation to
Allied nations and former prisoners of
war who had suffered Japanese war
crimes during World War II, ended the
Allied post-war occupation of Japan,
and returned full sovereignty to it.
Treaty of San Francisco
 Extract Discussion
“Most of the truly important postwar changes seem to be simply the acceleration of
changes that were already taking place in pre-war Japan… The war and the occupation
between them seem to have swept away barrier to the forward motion of these currents.
So, instead of diverting Japan into a new channel, the occupation cleared the old one of
the obstruction of militaristic reaction and changed a slow and meandering stream into a
rushing torrent.”

● What, according to Reischauer was the main impact of the US post-war occupation of
Japan?
● With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of
this source for historians studying the impact of the occupation.