Customer Reviews

Inside GHQ: The Allied Occupation of Japan and Its Legacy

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What's up y'all? Your favorite Japan Specialist is back with another review on a lesser-known book on the history of Japan.

Simply put, if you ever wanted to know about the full extent of the influence, power, and way of doing business that the Allied powers had, most noticeably the United States had on post World War II Japan, this is your book. Professor Eiji Takemae covers just about every aspect of life in Japan from the occupiers to the occupied in this one-stop shop. The redistribution of land is covered. The redrafting of the imperial constitution into a progressive model that is even more so than those of the powerful Western nations is covered. Even the rights of the sub-altern; women, the Ainus, Okinawans, the Korean, the Chinese citizens of Japan...

At five hundred pages plus, not counting the index and bibliographic notes, at times the occasional rode call-like list of names and offices can get a little mind numbing. Though at the same time, serve as a testament to the through-ness of Takemae 's research. Deep within the narrative, lies his theme of Japan's transformation from an invading empire hungry axis power at the beginning of WW II, to a world leader in peaceful economic growth via neutrality and humanitarian aid as a member of the UN. Noting that the book was completed and published in 2001, Takemae challenges Japan's role as the latter in the new age of violent senseless acts of terrorism especially with close ties to the United States, that stem directly from the occupation more than fifty years ago.

In the end, Takemae is a supportive of the GHQ and a lot of what they did for Japan after The War. Like any good scholar, he does not shy away from the negatives that the occupation brought with it. Most acknowledged by Takemae and probably the least known by the general public, the policy shift from New Deal Era progressiveness to guarded conservatism brought on by the onset of the Cold War.

Bring your curiosity and patience; this book will answer a lot of questions surrounding the Occupation like no other source.

No. The plans for the Occupation of Japan were long in place well before any American or Allied soldiers stepped foot on to Japanese soil.