Historical Context

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen at the beginning of the war by the U.S military as part of the “‘shock’ strategy by showing the significance of the atomic weapon for a Japanese surrender” (Miscamble 44). Many condemned the use of atomic weapons, including Los Alamos Laboratory Director J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer would meet with President Harry Truman and state that he, Oppenheimer himself, had blood on his hands. During the occupation, the context behind the bombings was to be legitimized as a necessary action as “American forces had no other option as Japanese militants refused to surrender” (Hirano 104). Essentially, criticism of the Allied forces' actions was forbidden. As Donald Keene writes, “the Occupation censorship was even more exasperating than Japanese military censorship had been because it insisted that all traces of censorship be concealed. This meant that articles had to be rewritten in full, rather than merely submitting XXs for the offending phrases” (Rosenfeld 85). However, many policies from the Occupation went into limbo as the United States looked at the rise of Communism in Asia, specifically the Chinese Civil War as the communist regime started to emerge.

The United States feared that with Japan in a weakened condition, experiencing rampant inflation, continuing hunger and poverty, and the rapid expansion of leftist parties and labor unions, communism may take hold (Kapur 10). The Cold War between the United States and the U.S.S.R had begun, and, thus, began the Reverse Course phase of the occupation. As Nick Kapur states, the “Occupation policy shifted from the demilitarization and democratization of Japan to economic reconstruction and remilitarization of Japan in support of U.S. Cold War objectives in Asia” (9). The occupation lasted from 1945 to 1952, ending with the San Francisco Peace Treaty, giving Japan sovereignty. The U.S.- Japan Security Treaty allowed U.S. troops to remain stationed on Japanese soil. While Japan would not have a military, the country established a Self Defense Force that acts as a de facto military branch with limited power. The United States still acts as the country’s military defense. Japan would continue to recover after the occupation ended, however, as the nation was now in between two superpowers with nuclear arsenals, the fear of nuclear destruction would continue to resonate.