User:CpFran697/Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers

General MacArthur

Main Article: Douglas MacArthur

MacArthur arrives at Atsugi airfield, August 30th, 1945.

SCAP is oftentimes synonymous with its appointed post war leader, American General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur ruled Japan with a fairly lenient approach. He legalized the Japanese Communist Party despite reservations from the United States government out of a desire for Japan to be truly democratic and invited them to take part in the 1946 election, which was also the first ever election to allow women to vote. He ordered the release of all political prisoners of the Imperial Japanese era, including communist prisoners. The first May Day parade in 11 years in 1946 was approved by MacArthur also. On the day before the May Day celebrations, which would involve 300,000 Japanese communists demonstrating with red flags and pro-Marxism chants in front of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and the Dai-Ichi Building, a group of would-be assassins led by Hideo Tokayama that planned to assassinate MacArthur with hand grenades and pistols on May Day was stopped and some of its members were arrested. Despite this plot the May Day demonstrations went on. MacArthur stopped the Communist Party from gaining any popularity in Japan by releasing their members from prison, conducting landmark land reform that made MacArthur more popular than communism for the rural Japanese farmers and peasants, and allowing the communists to freely participate in elections. In the 1946 election they won only 6 seats. Along with his american aversion to communism, General MacArthur had religious motivation in his subjugation of post war Japan. Unlike their western allies in Germany, the Japanese had a pagan, exotic reputation. The occupation was thus a white christian mission to pacify an "oriental people" and bring them in line with the west.

As Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, MacArthur also decided not to prosecute Shiro Ishii and all members of the bacteriological research units in exchange for germ warfare data based on human experimentation. On May 6, 1947, he wrote to Washington that "additional data, possibly some statements from Ishii probably can be obtained by informing Japanese involved that information will be retained in intelligence channels and will not be employed as "War Crimes" evidence." The deal was concluded in 1948.

According to historian Herbert Bix in Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, "MacArthur's truly extraordinary measures to save the Emperor from trial as a war criminal had a lasting and profoundly distorting impact on Japanese understanding of the lost war." MacArthur's reasoning was if the emperor were executed or sentenced to life imprisonment there would be a violent backlash and revolution from the Japanese from all social classes and this would interfere with his primary goal to change Japan from a militarist, feudal society to a pro-Western modern democracy. In a cable sent to General Dwight Eisenhower in February 1946 MacArthur said executing or imprisoning the emperor would require the use of one million occupation soldiers to keep the peace.

SCAP's relationship with Japanese leadership

General Macarthur and Emperor Hirohito, 29th of September, 1945.

The relationship between Japanese leadership and SCAP was tense, as SCAP domineered the former on the path to post war reconstruction. Macarthur was focused on the task at hand, shown by his refusal to address the Japanese leadership or public directly, instead electing to go straight to and from his office every day, without stops.

MacArthur and SCAP were adamant that the Emperor especially be shielded from responsibility for the war. MacArthur allowed the Emperor to issue statements that allowed for post war SCAP policy to be reframed as continued Meiji restoration, allowing the Emperor to cling to legitimacy. These views would be reflected in the first eight articles of the Constitution of Japan.

Constitution

Main Article: Constitution of Japan

One of the most significant actions of SCAP during the occupation was the drafting of a new Japanese constitution. One of MacArthur's top priorities was an overhaul of the existing Meiji constitution, to bring the country in line with its new democratic government. He gave the task of drafting the constitution to his officers, frustrated by the slowness of legislators. They would finish the task within a week, and presenting the new constitution as a wholesale amendment to the Meiji Constitution. It provided protections to the Emperor, placing him at the head of the state It was ratified November of 1946 and went into effect May 3rd, 1947. It remains the oldest unamended constitution in the world.

Article 9

The most polarizing aspect of the Japanese constitution, a part that still sees debate to this day, is the presence of Article 9, a clause covering the status of the Japanese military. The clause outlaws belligerency and prohibits the establishment of organized armed forces by the government. Despite this, Japan maintains a "self defense force" (a defacto defensive military) of around 250,000 active personnel. Article 9 and the JSDF are both hotly contested subjects of debates in modern Japanese politics, as pacifists see the JDSF and military involvement in foreign countries as unconstitutional, while nationalists seek Article 9's removal and a wider rearmament of Japan.

Legacy

Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty on September 8, 1951.

MacArthur handed over power to the Japanese government in 1949, but remained in Japan until relieved by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951. The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on 8 September 1951, marked the end of the Allied occupation, and when it went into effect on 28 April 1952, Japan was once again an independent state. However, the United States continued to administer some Japanese islands after that with, for example, Okinawa being continually under US administration until 1972. When MacArthur was relieved by President Harry S. Truman during the Korean War on April 11, 1951, he was succeeded as SCAP by General Matthew Ridgway. Ridgway remained as SCAP until the end of the occupation of Japan, which occurred on April 28, 1952, when the Treaty of San Francisco came into effect.

Active US Military Presence

Main Article: United State Forces Japan

All branches of the United States military forces are still present in Japan today. They primarily function in a support role, providing defense for Japan and the surrounding region, per the agreements of the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty. The United States Forces Japan is comprised of around 50,000 service members deployed all over Japan to protect Japanese and US interests alike. This has led to tension at times between Japanese citizens and American servicemen, with incidents frequently occurring between locals and servicemen. There are currently plans to relocate military bases in Okinawa, namely Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, as three quarters of all USFJ installations are located in the prefecture, despite its small size.

Faison comments on your draft 10.11.2022

Charlie, you have made a substantial contribution with new sources. At this stage I want you to focus on making it as clean as possible in terms of clarity of sentences, spelling, proofreading, etc. (for example, you need to proof the first sentence). Avoid colloquial expressions like "greenlit". You have added some good sources here, but not really the best historical sources on MacArthur and SCAP/occupation. You really need to look at Dower's book Embracing Defeat. Dower and other historians will help you with the language/tone of your section on May Day and communism/anti-communism. The Seymour Morris book, for example, is not written by an historian. A quick google search turns up the following: "Seymour Morris Jr. is an international business entrepreneur and former head of corporate communications for the world's largest management consulting firm. His articles on management and leadership have appeared in numerous magazines and books." This doesn't mean it is a bad book, but it tells us its author does not have historical training. I have some questions about several of your other sources as well. We can talk about this in a meeting soon.

In your last paragraph you claim that US forces are in Japan today due to the SF Peace Treaty. That is not true. It is the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty that allows for this.

Well done so far. We'll talk about how to improve it before moving it to main space.

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Faison comments 10.26.2022

You did not do what I asked in the first couple of sentences of my comments above (proofread and correct the first sentence; get rid of "greenlit" and other colloquialisms). Still need to proofread the entire thing, as there are many editing mistakes. I see you have added material from Dower and corrected the US-Japan Mutual Security treaty bit. I would recommend getting rid of the whole "gaijin shogun" thing. It does not add anything to the discussion, and the source is sketchy. You are close to being finished. Let's get it as clean as possible as soon as possible so you can move it to main space.