Japan 60 years later.

[MagicRat]

60 years ago yesterday, Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending WWII.

The defeat of Imperial Japan (a violent, murderous and dangerous military dictatorship) and the subsequent rebuilding of Japan into the worlds second largest economy and a very stable democracy was IMHO the finest achievement of US foreign policy in history.

I am still in awe of the scope and complexity of this achievement and how thoroughly successful it has been.

I am thankful for the sacrifices and hard work over the years of the Americans, their allies and the Japanese people who made this happen.

Comments?

[ec437]

For the first 5 years after Japanese defeat, no american soldier less than the rank of general was stationed in Japan if they weren't over 6 feet tall.

[eversio11]

I still can't believe the kind of brutality the Imperial Japanese forced upon the Chinese. Far worse than any holocaust stories

[YogsVR4]

20 million Chinese murdered and few people in the west know about it. Theres a reason why the Chinese are still pissed at the percieved lack of Japanese contrition.

[tenguzero]

Few Americans are aware of the casualties inflicted upon the Chinese, because it wasn't in the interest of either the Japanese or American governments to make notice of the whole thing at the time of the surrender. Obviously it was just one of the numerous post-war sources of great shame for the Japanese people, and rightfully so (though I always try to make a distinction between the Japanese PEOPLE and the Japanese MILITARY at the time, as the military, with its iron-grip on the government and powerful propaganda sway over the people, was the real perpetrator of the crimes and the continued war-- the people had been for the most part brainwashed into allowing it to happen.) On the American side of things, it was important that the public not learn the true extent of the Japanese crimes against the Chinese in particular, for while the conflict against the Allied powers and the various events thereof were easily put behind as the trappings of war, the knowledge of the mass slaughter of millions of Chinese would reflect VERY poorly upon the U.S., as the key to the U.S.-lead occupation/rebuilding of Japan was the continued role of Hirohito as the figurehead of the new, democratic Japan. See, the average person wasn't believing for a second that Hirohito's role was really that of a pacifist/uninformed emperor, puppeted about by his military, as the American government was trying to perpetuate. That's why things like the Chinese massacre were played down, and evidence of Hirohito's true role was suppressed for so long -- if links like this were exposed, the public could potentially see it as the equivalent of toppling Nazi Germany and its brutal holocaust, only to repackage Hitler and place him back in power, albeit under the watchful eyes of an occupying force, but back in power nonetheless.

[fredjacksonsan]

The only reason Japan surrendered were the nuclear weapons. Otherwise the US, after taking hellacious losses in the invasion of the mainland, would have been bogged down in the same situation as in Iraq.

[2strokebloke]

The Americans didn't do that much after 1953. And Japan's largest period of economic, and industrial growth didn't start until several years later. All in all, while Japan has been influenced, and inspired by other countries they rightfully deserve credit for most of what they've accomplished.
True, the United States "opened" Japan in 1853, but it was the Japanese, who built their new government, and adopted western technology with very little prodding from the western world (whereas China was being forced by many countries to adopt western technology, and trade, Japan was mostly left alone by the west).
Their new government was patterned after that of pre WWI Germany, which goes a long way to explain why things rapidly got out of hand during the twenties and thirties (and also established a long lasting relationship between Japan and Germany, which also explains a few things. I should note, for laughs, that France was pissed that Japan didn't adopt their form of government!).
So anyway, we all know how that ended... two bombs, etc.
General MacArthur comes in, sets up a new government, with a new constitution (which, at the time was actually ahead of the game compared to the U.S. constitution of the same era), rebuilt a few things, got the hell out and went to work on Korea before being fired for being too much of a badass.
Economically speaking, Japan was on it's own from that point. The basic infrastructure had been rebuilt, but Japan didn't have much of that before the war anyway, most roads, even in cities were still dirt, and if you know about Japan's prewar industry, you know that most people knew nothing about how a free market economy was really supposed to work.
A whole bunch of stuff happened - then boom! - the Nintendo, 1986. All you need to know.
(actually, if you really want to know how it all happened, just research Japan's "economic miracle" period of the 1960's - it's my favorite period of modern Japanese history, and it's mind boggling how much was changing in every aspect of life, industry, and government, during that decade).

[Muscletang]

Originally Posted by 2strokebloke

A whole bunch of stuff happened - then boom! - the Nintendo, 1986. All you need to know.