From Publishers Weekly
This interesting, well-documented memoir by historian Van Staaveren (Interdiction in Southern Laos) relates how, as a civilian information and education officer aided by a Japanese staff, he helped to implement Douglas MacArthur's Western-style constitution for postwar Japan as a guide to demilitarizing and reforming "every facet" of social, religious and economic life. The author portrays occupied Japan as experienced in Yamanashi prefecture, near Tokyo, by both ordinary Japanese and U.S. military and civilian personnel, and describes the mostly friendly relations among them all. Staaveren admired the resilience of the Japanese amid their crowded, devastated cities and ruined economy. Though some reforms of that era have since been discarded, the democratic influence of the 1947 constitution is still evident in such areas as coeducation and freedom of press and religion. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In most general history texts, the postwar occupation of Japan is given short shrift, aside from a few kudos for the "wise" administration by the U.S. However, the period has had immense consequences for the development of Japan and, in a broader sense, East Asia. Van Staaveren served as a "civil information and education officer" in Japan from 1946 to 1948, and he has based this book on his letters and notes compiled during his tenure. He writes in a thick, pedantic style likely to drive away the general reader. However, for students of the period, he provides a unique perspective on the massive changes that the occupation triggered. His insights into the reform of the creaky Japanese educational system are particularly interesting given the admiration Americans often express for Japan's current system. Jay Freeman
