The American Occupation of Japan: The Origins of the Cold War in Asia

By Michael Schaller

Book Overview

This book provides a novel perspective on the origins of the Cold War in Asia, tracing it all the way back to the occupation of Japan after the Second World War. Schaller argues that the reconstruction of postwar Japan not only shaped the future of that country but the future of U.S. policy throughout postwar Asia, leading up to the controversial interventions in China, Korea, and Vietnam.
The author shows how after the war, the United States sought to develop Japan as a stable bulwark against both Soviet expansion and Asian revolution. Schaller depicts the intense contest that raged among Americans, pitting the flamboyant Occupation Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, against virtually all civilian and military planners in Washington, including the president. First hailed as a hero and given nearly free reign to shape Japan's future, MacArthur was ultimately denounced by Truman and his advisors as a "bunko artist" who had wrecked Japan's economy and opened it to Communist influence. In place of MacArthur's ambitious social and economic reforms, the new Occupation program reconcentrated power in the hands of Japans's old elite. The book shows how Communist control of China and North Korea cut Japan off from its historic trading partners and forced officials to focus on developing the rich but unstable Southeast Asian states. Washington feared that economic blackmail alone would pull Japan into the Soviet orbit. Determined to secure Japan--the ultimate "domino"--the United States spurned possible detente with China, extended military aid to the French in Indochina, and finally entered the Korean War.

About the Author:

Michael Schaller is Professor of History at the University of Arizona

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195036263
• ISBN13: 9780195036268
• Release Date: November 1985
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 363 Pages
• Weight: 1.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Been there, learned about that

As one who lived in Occupied Japan for several months, I've always wanted to know what was happening overall to influence our day-to-day lives. This book, by a respected historian, provides the flow of geopolitical events that helped explain that time of our family's life. Prof. Schaller also provides the documentation that shreds whatever naive respect I once had for Douglas MacArthur. More detail is available in a separate biography by the same author who has also written an account of the relations between Japan and the US beginning with the Korean War and the Peacy Treaty of 1952 and for the years afterward.