Architects of Occupation

Author(s):  
Dayna L. Barnes

The Allied occupation of Japan is remembered as the “good occupation.” An American-led coalition successfully turned a militaristic enemy into a stable and democratic ally. Of course, the story was more complicated, but the occupation did forge one of the most enduring relationships in the postwar world. Recent events, from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan to protests over American bases in Japan to increasingly aggressive territorial disputes between Asian nations over islands in the Pacific, have brought attention back to the subject of the occupation of Japan. This book exposes the wartime origins of occupation policy and broader plans for postwar Japan. It considers the role of presidents, bureaucrats, think tanks, the media, and Congress in policymaking. Members of these elite groups came together in an informal policy network that shaped planning. Rather than relying solely on government reports and records to understand policymaking, the book also uses letters, memoirs, diaries, and manuscripts written by policymakers to trace the rise and spread of ideas across the policy network. The book contributes a new facet to the substantial literature on the occupation, serves as a case study in foreign policy analysis, and tells a surprising new story about World War II.

Author(s):  
Grace Ting

Tezuka Osamu was a manga (comic) artist, animator, and film director often called the "God of Manga" for his enormous lasting impact upon the manga and animation industry of post-World War II Japan. First attracting attention in 1947 with his manga Shin takarajima (New Treasure Island), he was extraordinarily prolific until his death in 1989. He is best known for his series Tetsuwan Atomu (Iron-Armed Atom, 1952–1968), which suggested utopian desires while also posing darker questions concerning possibilities for peace and diversity in postwar Japan. In 1961, he established the animation studio Mushi Production and adapted the series as the first Japanese animated television series, aired from 1963 to 1966. Ultimately, he produced several hundred manga titles, many of which he adapted as animated films and television series while also producing original animations. A master of innovation, he forged the path for new possibilities for manga and animation, particularly with his groundbreaking contributions in applying cinematic techniques to his works. Tezuka’s work suggests the close-knit ties between film, manga, and TV animation in Japan. In particular, scholar Marc Steinberg has discussed the significant role of Tetsuwan Atomu in establishing precedents for the postwar anime media mix in Japan, especially with its style of limited animation made for television and Tezuka’s business model incorporating transmedia character merchandising.


1989 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Laffey

The completion in 1986 of the Documents diplomatiques français, 1932–1939 permits a review of French Far Eastern policy during that troubled time characterized by J.-B. Duroselle as ‘la décadence.’ This massive documentary collection, however, still dose not provide a full picture of the forces which shaped French East Asian policy in the years before the outbreak of the Pacific War. Understandably focused upon European developments, it begins and ends, from the Far Eastern perspective, in medias res; that is, after the outbreak of the Manchurian crisis and before the Japanese occupation of Indochina. Moreover, like other compilations of what statesmen and diplomats said to each other, this one slights economic factors and, though to a lesser extent, the role of public opinion. Even taken in their own terms, the documents perhaps reveal more about what others said and did to the French than about what they themselves accomplished. That points to a more fundamental problem, for one can question whether anything so gelatinous as the French responses or lack thereof to developments largely beyond their control can even be described as ‘policy.’ Still, although much more work in archives and private papers will be necessary before the entire story can be pieced together, these documents do shed light on what passed for French policy in East Asia during the years before the outbreak of World War II.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Coates

A distinctive feature of post-war Japanese cinema is the frequent recurrence of imagistic and narrative tropes and formulaic characterizations in female representations. These repetitions are important, Jennifer Coates asserts, because sentiments and behaviours forbidden during the war and post-war social and political changes were often articulated by or through the female image. Moving across major character types, from mothers to daughters, and schoolteachers to streetwalkers, Making Icons studies the role of the media in shaping the attitudes of the general public. Japanese cinema after defeat in the Asia Pacific War and World War II is shown to be an important ground where social experiences were explored, reworked, and eventually accepted or rejected by audiences emotionally invested in these repetitive materials. An examination of 600 films produced and distributed between 1945 and 1964, as well as numerous Japanese-language sources, forms the basis of this rigorous study. Making Icons draws on an art-historical iconographic analysis to explain how viewers derive meanings from images during this peak period of film production and attendance in Japan.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Syahruddin Mansyur

AbstrakDalam konteks kawasan, keberadaan tinggalan arkeologi berupa sarana pertahanan masa Perang Dunia II di Pulau Buru tidak lepas dari konteks geografis, dimana Kepulauan Maluku – termasuk Pulau Buru merupakan bagian dari kawasan Pasifik. Permasalahan yang dikaji dalam tulisan ini adalah mengungkap berbagai bentuk sarana pertahanan dan lokasi keberadaannmya, serta informasi historis yang terkait dengan Perang Dunia II di Pulau Buru. Dengan menggunakan metode analisis deskriptif dan analogi sejarah, penelitian ini berhasil mengidentifikasi bentuk-bentuk sarana pertahanan yang masih dapat diamati berupa; fasilitas landasan pacu, pillbox dan lokasi pendaratan pasukan Australia. Hasil pembahasan juga berhasil mengungkap peran wilayah Pulau Buru yang merupakan wilayah strategis baik bagi militer Jepang maupun pasukan sekutu dalam Perang Dunia II. Peran wilayah yang strategis ini tidak lepas dari posisi geografis Pulau Buru yang dapat menghubungkan Philipina yang ada di bagian utara, Ambon yang ada di sebelah timur, serta Pulau Timor yang ada di bagian selatan. AbstractIn the context of the region, the presence of archaeological remains in the form of means of defense during World War II on the island of Buru can not be separated from the geographical context, where the Maluku Islands - including the Buru is part of the Pacific region. The problems studied in this paper is to reveal some form of defense and locations, as well as historical information related to World War II on the island of Buru. By using descriptive analysis and historical analogies, this study managed to identify forms of the means of defense which can still be observed in the form; facilities runway, pillbox and Australian troops landing site. Discussion of the results also uncovered the role of the island of Buru is a strategic region for the Japanese military and allied forces in World War II. The role of a strategic area is not separated from the geographical position of Buru Island that connects the Philippines in the north, Ambon in the east, and the island of Timor in the south.


Author(s):  
Aleksandr Davydov ◽  
Olesya Balandina

The article studies aspects of the Soviet outreach during World War II. The tool of such outreach was the Soviet Information Bureau, established on June 24, 1941. The authors focus on main directions of the operation of the Bureau. The novelty of the authors’ findings lies in the fact that canonical texts of the Soviet Information Bureau were actually censored by Joseph Stalin himself. The article questions the significance of the underlying patterns for the development of domestic media content. The authors study how Stalin managed the media with the help of reports. The study is relevant, as it reveals and argues the key role of Marxist ideologemes, contained in the reports, as the dominant factor defining the whole complex of newspaper and journal sources. Upon studying Stalin’s notes, the authors conclude that the tenet of exceptional progressivity of Soviet socialist society was unquestionable for its leader. The argument on the excellence of the society and the proof of extreme reactivity of the opposing regime that cast shadow on the perfect society are connected with a complete perversion of facts. The article also contains the authors’ investigation into information expansion organized by Soviet Information Bureau in the international arena during the studied period. According to the researchers, the expansion was aimed at creating a springboard to launch an agenda offensive in the post-war period. The authors conclude that Bureau’s campaigns never succeeded despite major financial and labour investments due to deep ideological motivation: the majority of Soviet people, as well as most foreigners had no trust towards Soviet media.


Author(s):  
Dayna L. Barnes

This chapter examines the role of media in postwar planning on Japan. Public relations and popular opinion are only a part of the story of how the media influenced American policy toward Japan. During World War II, the journalists, editors, politicians, and bureaucrats who published on this question were influential not just because of their connection to the reading public but also as a result of their ties to policymaking circles. As such, wartime publications—popular newspaper opinion columns, specialist book series, and journal articles—provided a source of information and analysis to policymakers. However, published material was not the only, or even the most important, connection between opinion leaders and policymakers on the Japan question. Media elites, bureaucrats, and politicians also shared ideas informally through telephone conversations, over dinners, and at social events.


1994 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Howard
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Adam Kocher ◽  
Adria K. Lawrence ◽  
Nuno P. Monteiro

Does nationalism produce resistance to foreign military occupation? The existing literature suggests that it does. Nationalism, however, also can lead to acquiescence and even to active collaboration with foreign conquerors. Nationalism can produce a variety of responses to occupation because political leaders connect nationalist motivations to other political goals. A detailed case study of the German occupation of France during World War II demonstrates these claims. In this highly nationalistic setting, Vichy France entered into collaboration with Germany despite opportunities to continue fighting in 1940 or defect from the German orbit later. Collaboration with Germany was widely supported by French elites and passively accommodated by the mass of nationalistic French citizens. Because both resisters and collaborators were French nationalists, nationalism cannot explain why collaboration was the dominant French response or why a relatively small number of French citizens resisted. Variation in who resisted and when resistance occurred can be explained by the international context and domestic political competition. Expecting a German victory in the war, French right-wing nationalists chose collaboration with the Nazis as a means to suppress and persecute their political opponents, the French Left. In doing so, they fostered resistance. This case suggests the need for a broader reexamination of the role of nationalism in explaining reactions to foreign intervention.


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