American planning for a post-war occupation of Japan began as early as February 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt established an …

The initial phase of the Occupation focused on punishing Japan for having made war on the Allies, and undertook a thorough reformation of Japanese society to ensure that Japan would never again be a threat to world peace. Reforms targeted all major …

The Reverse Course (逆コース, gyaku kōsu) is the name commonly given to a major shift in the Occupation policies that began in 1947 in response to the emerging global Cold War. In particular, U.S. priorities shifted from punishing and reforming Jap…

In 1949, MacArthur made a sweeping change in the SCAP power structure that greatly increased the power of Japan's native rulers, and the Occupation began to draw to a close. The Treaty of San Francisco, which was to end the occupa…

With the acceptance of the Allied occupation authorities, the Japanese organized a brothel system (the euphemistically named "Recreation and Amusement Association," or RAA) for the benefit of the more than 300,000 occupati…

Unlike Allied-occupied Germany, the government of Japan continued to exist during the occupation. Although MacArthur's official staff history of the occupation referred to "the Eighth Army Military Government System", it explaine…

Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, and officially surrendered on September 2, 1945. Over 5,000 Japanese Americans served in the occupation of Japan. Dozens of Japanese Americans served as translators, interpre…