Japanese History after World War II - Essay Example

Japanese history after World War II and US-Japanese relations with special emphasis on the Americanization of Japanese culture No other country in postwar Asia (and perhaps in the postwar world) has experienced a closer relationship either politically, economically, militarily, or culturally with the United States than Japan. (Dower, 2000) The US has had a huge impact on Japan with regard to all these factors. Understanding the extent of this impact is indeed a very interesting and fascinating area of study. This essay aims to understand US-Japanese relations after World War II and also elaborate on the process of the Americanization of Japanese culture, the effects of which we see in contemporary Japanese society. The whole of Japan was devastated after the end of World War II. Almost all of the large cities (with the exception of Kyoto), industries and the transportation networks were severely damaged. A severe shortage of food continued for several years. The occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers started in August 1945 and ended in April 1952. General MacArthur was its first Supreme Commander. The whole operation was mainly carried out by the United States. (Postwar, n.d.) Following World War II, Japan's relations with the United States were placed on an equal footing for the first time at the end of the occupation by the Allied forces in April 1952. (Shunya, 2008) The legal basis of this equality was laid down in the peace treaty signed by forty-eight allied nations and Japan. It was initially largely nominal because Japan required direct United States economic assistance in the early post-occupation period. A favorable Japanese balance of payments with the United States was achieved in 1954, mainly as a result of United States military and aid spending in Japan. (Shunya, 2008) In the 1940s and 1950s, there was a drastic change in the international environment while Japan was recovering and rebuilding under American supervision. The cold war between the US and the Soviet Union began. China got involved in a civil war. (Menton et al., 2003) The sudden outbreak of war in Korea in 1950 resulted in another clash between the communist and non communist forces. America feared that communist aggression would spread throughout Asia and threaten democracy. The alignment of enemies and allies was shifting. In this environment, The US began to consider Japan as crucial to its foreign policy in East Asia. (Menton et al., 2003) It became imperative to build a military bulwark against communism in East Asia, and to stabilize the Japanese economy to ensure that it could function as the center for economic growth in the region. (Shunya, 2008) Since there was no immediate prospect for the expansion of economic relations between Japan and China, the thought of reviving the Japanese economy by linking it to the markets of Southeast Asia was proposed. In addition to making Japan into the center of an anticommunist economic sphere in Asia, it was also necessary to reduce Japan’s military burden to prevent any slowdown in the speed of its economic recovery. (Shunya, 2008) Considering communism in the Soviet Union, Korea, and China as a major threat, the US revised the occupation’s focus and adopted a reverse course. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) started to build Japan as a democratic stronghold against communism. Japan was no longer viewed as the hated enemy nation. Instead, it was viewed as part of a perimeter of defense against communism in East Asia. (Menton et al., 2003) The war in Korea between 1950 to 1953 most clearly demonstrated Japan’s changing role. The official US position during this time changed from demilitarization to remilitarization. US officials put a lot of pressure on Japan to form a 75000-man “National police Reserve” to maintain domestic order. Japan served as the industrial supply base for US forces in Korea. Japanese factories manufactured several goods and services for the US. forces. The cold war between the US and Europe ended with the breaking apart of the Soviet union in 1991. Despite all this changes in the environment, Japan continued to be a strong ally of the US (Menton et al., 2003). The Americans wanted democratization to change the face of Japanese politics and society. However, several average citizens were more attracted by the material wealth displayed by the occupying forces. (Menton et al., 2003) In impoverished postwar Japan, ordinary consumer goods like cigarettes, cosmetics, and candy were luxuries that signified America's wealth and power. This massive wave of Americanization touched many aspects of Japanese life; it also swept aside or drove underground the fervent displays of militarism and nationalism whose credibility Japan's disastrous war had dashed. (Menton et al., 2003) Some American innovations generally changed postwar life for the better. Innovations patterned after the American lifestyle also changed Japanese society. (Menton et al., 2003) New fashions replaced the ordinary. As rice rations dwindled. Bread making increased. The depth of Americanization became clear as impressionable children mimicked the behavior of adults and quickly learned survival skills. (Menton et al., 2003) Those children who had the opportunity to go to a school helped eliminate references to the emperor or to the glory of the Japanese empire. The nationalist rhetoric was quickly discarded and replaced with ideals such as democracy and liberty. The coeducation classes introduced by the Americans were well received. Baseball which had been banned during the war was reintroduced and became extremely popular (Menton et al., 2003). A number of foods introduced by the Americans during this period had a great impact on disoriented Japanese who were at that time struggling with extreme food shortages in war-devastated lives and chaotic social orders. Sweet chocolates, above all, distributed by American soldiers epitomized the utmost wealth Japanese children saw in American lives. They spread the message that affluence and happiness took American forms. (Konagaya, 2001) The Japanese people's feeling of dependence gradually decreased as the disastrous results of World War II subsided into the background and trade with the United States increased. There was a growth in the self-confidence of the people as the country applied its resources and organizational skill to regaining economic health. (Wikipedia, 2009) A qualitatively new phase of Japan-United States cooperation in world affairs appeared to have been reached in late 1982 with the election of Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro. (Wikipedia, 2009) Culture can be considered as a very notable element in Japan-US relations. (Yudan, n.d.) It is often considered that postwar Japanese popular culture is basically “American” culture. In other words, the “American” influence has played a huge role in the development of cultural consumption in everyday life in postwar Japan. There are many cases in everyday practices, especially consuming practices, in which one can find “American influence”. (Shunya, 2008) In the years after the war, however, it was American culture that exerted the greatest pull on the Japanese imagination. American styles, ways of living, production methods, and designs of all kinds were rapidly absorbed by an eager Japanese audience. In the fifty years that followed the war, Japanese culture absorbed and transformed, many American influences. In the area of industrial design, this transformation produced a hybrid that is distinctively Japanese. (American Influence, n.d.) Notions such as the Christian tradition, liberal expansionism, and Wilsonian internationalism led the spread of the American culture. Especially during the Cold War, as a result of the fierce ideological warfare between both eastern and western blocs, cultural Americanization was deeply imbricated by an American value system. (Igarashi, 2004) The influence of Americanization started in Japan in the 1930's. Movie theaters were screening Hollywood films such as the John Ford directed movie "Stagecoach"(1939). (Igarashi, 2004) Jazz was introduced to Japanese passengers by Filipino bands playing on cruise ships sailing to foreign destinations. Japanese musicians traveled to Shanghai, which was then the jazz mecca of Asia, to learn from American jazz musicians who were touring there. In everyday life, homes boasting western or private rooms and American style modern roofs were called "culture homes (bunka jyutaku)," and there was a tendency to associate the luxury and convenience of American life to "cultural living," or "progress." (Igarashi, 2004) It is not at all surprising that Americanization's greatest period of influence on Japan occurred during the American occupation after World War II. Japanese people who had been crying out, "kichiku beiei," or "American and British devils," were now faced with the "generosity" of the victor, and they began to adopt a softer stance toward their vanquishers. (Igarashi, 2004) The overwhelming authority of the American military occupation policy enforced the aforementioned ideological policies throughout the country, even while emphasizing demilitarization of the state and democratization. Democracy and pacifism were spread extensively and popularized through these forms of American ideological endorsement. (Igarashi, 2004) The new constitution, which took effect in 1947, was based on the two concepts of democratization and demilitarization, which were quickly adopted by many Japanese. The extent to which this "imposed" democracy was actually established in Japanese society or culture was undermined by the frequent incidents provoked by conservative politicians, which became the cause of general skepticism among the populace toward Japan's "democracy." (Igarashi, 2004) Pacifism, a concept that was so entrenched in the Japanese peoples' memory of themselves as victims of war, became unstable as the memory of war began to fade. In the immediate postwar period, what a majority of Japanese hoped for was the realization of a rational and affluent society. (Igarashi, 2004) It was a hope for escape from a past of prewar and wartime control by imperial rule and militarism, and from utter poverty. What was particularly alluring about American culture for such Japanese was the prospect of freedom and material abundance. The spacious rooms and the big white refrigerator in the comic strip, Blondie, helped people to imagine the affluence of the American lifestyle. (Igarashi, 2004) The flat side of a ham hock peering from the open refrigerator door was a source of amazement for the Japanese people who had only until then seen an entire hock of ham in a butcher's showcase. For Japanese at the time, America's prosperous culture of consumption, symbolized by chewing gum, chocolate, and women's fashion, represented "the American Dream." (Igarashi, 2004) The ideal of postwar Japanese home life flowed explicitly from the model of the “American way of life” of the 1950s. People wanted to buy all kinds of home electric appliances and live in American type suburban houses. (Shunya, 2008) In the field of design and advertising, “American” influences were more evident. American films and TV dramas were quite popular especially during the 1950s. So it will be correct to say that postwar Japanese consumer culture emerged from the overwhelming American influence beginning in the late 1940s. (Shunya, 2008) With the occupation by joint military forces, jazz performances were resurrected in areas near bases, and with the ban lifted on NHK radio programs and dance halls, jazz became accessible to the average Japanese listener. (Igarashi, 2004) As part of their public relations efforts during the Cold War era, the American government promoted overseas concert tours of black jazz musicians, and in 1952, Louis Armstrong visited Japan. Along with jazz in the 1950's, was introduced rock-n-roll, and in the 1960's, Bob Dylan's folk music. Songs representing "freedom" became famous; the electric boom, group sounds, and music of a common global language among youth came pouring in from America. (Igarashi, 2004) The American government provided strong backing for Hollywood films that were the most successful anti-communist propaganda tools. These films exceeded the American government's expectations by depicting the various circumstances of American society. (Igarashi, 2004) The crowds that filled the movie theaters to capacity thoroughly enjoyed the freedom and affluence of American society in these films. The children who watched "Dumbo," "Bambi," and "Mickey Mouse" were completely captivated by the colorful and expressive Disney animations. (Igarashi, 2004) When television programming first aired in 1953 in Japan, it exceeded movies as a means for propagating ideas. Since production techniques and capital were still inadequate, particularly in the early stages of the newly begun television industry, American television shows were often directly imported. Family dramas like "Father Knows Best," "The Donna Reed Show," and "I Love Lucy" were aired, and the image of an idealized American middle-class family-life without racism or the shadow of poverty stuck in people's minds. (Igarashi, 2004) These shows would later become models for Japanese home dramas. The Western boom also brought "Laramie" and "Rawhide," implanting into Japanese society the image of Americans who were simple, yet cheerful, who burned with the fire of justice and lived in the vast countryside. At a time when Japanese viewers were just beginning an era of rapid economic growth, they envisioned their future lives as bright and affluent as the lives of the characters in the home dramas, and experienced the humanism of American society through the westerns. (Igarashi, 2004) In postwar Japanese society, there were many, however, who saw Americanization from a much more critical viewpoint. Those involved in left wing or liberal politics recognized Americanization as the cultural analog of the U.S. geo-political role in East Asia and other developing areas. (Igarashi, 2004) They saw the U.S. as an oppressor that suppresses and exterminates those who actually seek freedom, democracy, or humanism, in order to protect its own profits. The student movements of this area were made up of the persistent denunciations of "American imperialism." Although these students, leftists, and progressives were perhaps unable to avoid completely the effects of Americanization on their day-to-day lives, their view of America continues to hold an authority that cannot be ignored. (Igarashi, 2004) Since World War II, the Japanese have adapted Christmas to their cultural context and have added their own distinctive features that are not found elsewhere in Christmas customs. (Konagaya, 2001) One such noticeable material difference, for example, is the use of a round white cake decorated with red strawberries. As a festival food it expresses symbols that communicate cultural values, social relations, and the distinctive identity of modern Japan. (Konagaya, 2001) Christmas celebrations in Japan create an environment for Japanese to detach from the routines of everyday life and experience an American milieu. Showy commercial advertisements and promotional campaigns add their bit of drama to the festival. Christmas is considered to be a major public event in urban industrialized Japanese society. Christmas indeed represented America for Japanese. Americans presented images of Christmas to the Japanese through parades, gifts, and charitable activities by Christian organizations, which turned out to contribute to the democratization of Japanese society (Konagaya, 2001). Wilkinson (1991) details the enduring dimension of Americanization in contemporary Japan as follows: Seventy per cent of Japanese studying abroad go to the USA and 70 per cent of Japanese living overseas live in the Americas (35 per cent in the USA); most of the record number of Japanese travelling abroad at the end of the eighties went to the USA, as did honeymoon couples . . . The post-war generation turned to the USA and most best-sellers were now US. These same books were also best-sellers in the USA and Europe. Either they were about US management methods or they reflected the global, homogenized, youth culture which emerged in the sixties. Largely US, coinciding with the spread of hamburger and coke, wash-and-wear pants and jeans, rock, pop and disco-sound, it found it’s most characteristic and influential expression in movies, television, cassette and video tapes. Thus, the Japanese people spontaneously and enthusiastically supported the institutional reforms and new social systems implemented under the occupation, including political reform, equal rights for women, coeducation, and abolition of the traditional family system, to name a few. (Kumagai, 1996) Most of these reforms worked for the better of the Japanese people. Underlying the endless discussion today of America in books, magazine articles, and TV programs in Japan, one can detect both conscious and unconscious searching for a new Japanese cultural identity. The dominance of the American cultural impact in the twentieth century has been supported by what may be called mass consumption, the Japanese must question themselves about whether they can make a breakthrough in changing their way of life in a new technological environment, or if they should wait for another American initiative. (Iriye and Cohen, 1993) Despite certain uncertainties in their relationship in the 1990’s, the US and Japan have continued to remain allies. Japan has now grown into an economic power not only in Asia but also internationally. The US-Japan alliance continues to be the cornerstone for US security and economic interests in Asia. The US still continues to maintain troops in Okinawa in Japan. Both nations continue to collaborate on a wide range of issues including science and technology. Japan also continues to be a huge market for several US products including agricultural products. Thus, despite a painful past, the US and Japan share a strong bond politically, economically, militarily, and culturally. REFERENCES American Influence on Japanese Industrial Design [online]. (n.d.). [Accessed 24 March 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Dower, J. W. (2000). “Culture,” Theory, and Practice in U.S.-Japan Relations. Diplomatic History , 24(3), 517-527 Igarashi, A. (2004). "Americanization": An East Asian Perspective [online]. [Accessed 25 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Iriye, A., Cohen, W. I. (1993). The United States and Japan in the Postwar World. USA: University Press of Kentucky.[Assessed 25 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Konagaya, H (2001). The Christmas cake: A Japanese tradition of American prosperity.. Journal of Popular Culture. March, pp.121-126. Kumagai, F., and Keyser, D. J. (1996). Unmasking Japan today: the impact of traditional values on modern Japanese society. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. [Assessed 25 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: < http://books.google.com/books?id=9E1O7U00tEcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Japanese+reaction+to+americanization&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA1,M1> Menton, L. K., Lush, N. W., Tamura, E. H., and Gusukuma, C. (2003). The rise of modern Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.[Assessed 27 march 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Postwar (since 1945) [online]. (n.d.). [Accessed 25 March 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Shunya, Y. (2008). What Does “American” Mean in Postwar Japan?. Nanzan Review Of American Studies. 30, pp.83-87. Wilkinson, Endymion (1991) Japan Versus The West, New York: Penguin Books. Wikipedia. (2009). Japan – United States relations [online]. [Accessed 28 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Yudan, C. (n.d.). Culture: In the East Asia Cooperation [online]. [Accessed 26 May 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: . Read More