Source: CNKI
Since the end of World War II, Japan seems to have had the intention of becoming deeply bound to the United States.
With the intensification of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II, the United States continued to enhance the position of Asia in its global strategy in order to cope with the threat of communism, and also strengthened its support for Japan.
Truman, who was the president of the United States at the time, also appointed MacArthur as the supreme commander of the allied forces between the United States and Japan to reform Japan.
After coming to Japan, MacArthur not only lived the life of the emperor, but also occupied the first actress in Japan, and even made the Japanese emperor well-behaved like his "son".
Policy towards Japan, occupation and transformation
On August 12, 1945, Truman ordered MacArthur to occupy Japan militarily with 430,000 U.S. troops, and was responsible for the transformation and reconstruction of Japan.
As the concrete executor of the U.S. policy toward Japan, coupled with his originally arrogant and honor-advocating personality, MacArthur considered himself to be the "God" who recreated postwar Japan.
But after spending some time in Japan, the Supreme Commander from the United States also saw a deep resistance in Japan to the presence of American troops there.
With years of experience in warfare, he believed that the military occupation of other countries would have a high probability of triggering war. If the United States really wants to win over Japan, it must first end the occupation.
As a result, he became a staunch "peacemaker against Japan" faction in the United States.
However, MacArthur's withdrawal was not a complete withdrawal, he only advocated the withdrawal of those American troops on Japanese soil, and the presence of troops in the Atlantic, that is, in the islands on the periphery of Japan. It can be seen that MacArthur only superficially caters to Japan's wishes.
Immediately afterward, MacArthur implemented a series of reforms in Japan with the aim of transforming Japan into an "ally" of the United States.
Since Japan had been under the absolutism of the emperor with strong feudal remnants and imperialist overtones before the war, MacArthur decided to formulate a new constitution for Japan, and how to deal with the "emperor system" became the core issue that he urgently needed to solve.
When Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, a post-war agreement, it made a condition that the emperor's system of rule be preserved and that the emperor remain in charge of domestic politics.
This was acceptable to the Allies, but only if the Emperor and Government of Japan were subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.
Although Japan was somewhat dissatisfied, it agreed in order to preserve the emperor system. This is why the Emperor's Edict of the End of the War mentions that "the Japanese state has been maintained."
Therefore, when MacArthur received a notice requesting a constitutional amendment, the Japanese minister participated in it with a determination to defend the emperor's system to the death.
In September 1945, MacArthur had his first meeting with Emperor Hirohito.
Seeing this, some people may ask, why did he not "summon" the emperor as soon as he came to Japan?
MacArthur said that he would wait for the emperor to come and meet with him, and if he was forcibly summoned as supreme commander, the emperor's dignity would be damaged and Japan's resistance to the United States would be intensified.
However, as MacArthur's stay in Japan lengthened, the emperor did not lower his profile and offered to meet with him, which led to public opinion in the United States and the Allies that the emperor should be held accountable.
At one point, the U.S. Congress called for the emperor to be treated as a war criminal and to be punished.
This public opinion also frightened the Japanese government and the emperor, who knew that the time had come to meet with MacArthur.
When the emperor is the emperor, the emperor is retained
The meeting was also recorded in MacArthur's memoirs, when MacArthur handed the emperor a cigarette, and when he lit it, MacArthur noticed that the emperor's hands were shaking.
It can be seen that the emperor was very afraid of MacArthur and the United States.
MacArthur did not use his power to persecute the Japanese emperor, but instead communicated with him on an equal footing.
During the conversation, the two discussed the issue of a new constitution. When Emperor Hirohito was asked about World War II, he did not say that he would take responsibility for causing the war, only that he had the greatest regret for the outcome of the war.
It can also be seen from this that the emperor did not have any remorse for World War II at all. But MacArthur did not ask, but followed the emperor's words.
He said that the emperor had led Japan to end the war and to avoid a devastating blow to Japan, and praised the emperor as the man who knew Japan best. Why, then, did MacArthur say such a thing?
This was actually because he had already drawn up a plan for the reform of Japan before the meeting, and he wanted to use the emperor as a political tool to control Japan. That's why he made this remark with hypocrisy.
During the meeting, the two also took a group photo, which was published in major Japanese newspapers the next day.
This is a group photo that the Japanese government considers to be disrespectful to the emperor, because Hirohito in the photo is short and dull, which is completely inconsistent with the image of the emperor as high.
MacArthur, who stood next to Hirohito, was tall and muscular, his eyes like torches, forming a sharp sense of contrast. The release of the photos also made Japan once again feel the sense of defeat in the war.
In fact, this was also MacArthur's attempt to "pull the emperor down from the altar".
After that, the commander had several public meetings with the emperor, which also made Japan realize that the emperor was not a "god", but just an ordinary ordinary person.
After deliberately lowering the emperor's "divinity," MacArthur acted as the "master" of the emperor's fate.
Although some congressmen in the US authorities believe that the Japanese emperor system should be abolished, MacArthur, who is well versed in Japan's national conditions, knows that doing so will inevitably arouse Japan's antipathy towards the United States and be detrimental to his plan for Japanese control.
To this end, MacArthur also consulted with the United States. In the end, the Japanese government said it would abandon the war to retain the emperor system.
After receiving this promise, the United States still had doubts, so it handed over the final decision on whether to retain the imperial system to MacArthur, the implementer of the policy toward Japan.
The commander, in order to ensure that his occupation of Japan would proceed properly, agreed not to abolish the emperor, but only if power was removed from the emperor's hands and they became a symbol of Japanese politics. As a result, in 1946, Japan had the "Symbolic Emperor System".
Although Japan also had some complaints, it still made a compromise with MacArthur.
It can be seen that in Japan at that time, MacArthur was the decision-maker who was above the emperor, which was equivalent to the "emperor" of Japan.
The emperor did not dare to come out in front of MacArthur, and could only be well-behaved like a son.
This was also because the Emperor knew that if he disobeyed MacArthur's orders, it would provoke the wrath of the United States and the Allies.
At that time, not only will Japan be deposed as emperor, but Japan may once again experience the suffering of being dropped by the atomic bomb.
Dedicated to the actress to protect her status
Before MacArthur decided to retain the emperor system, the Japanese government and the emperor also did something to curry favor with MacArthur, who had jurisdiction over Japan.
In order to win him over, the emperor came up with a "beauty trick". At this time, the goddess of the Showa era, Setsuko Hara, appeared.
Setsuko Hara, who was born in 1920, is slim. When she was 15 years old, she got the opportunity to participate in a movie.
Two years later, she starred in "national policy films" used by Japan to promote the spirit of war and aggression, such as "The Sky of the Decisive Battle".
These films seem to have hinted at the end of her life, that is, she will also become a victim of "war".
By 1946, at the age of 26, Setsuko Hara was chosen as the lead actress in the first work of the famous future Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, and was also hired as a spokesperson for Shiseido, one of Japan's largest cosmetics companies. For a time, she was in the limelight and was promoted to become a first-line actress.
After the Japanese emperor saw this popular actress on the screen, he moved the idea of giving her to MacArthur.
In order to make his actions appear less deliberate and purposeful, the emperor ordered the Japanese government to hold a gala party, inviting Setsuko Hara and MacArthur.
At this time, MacArthur was 66 years old, and he was also a little moved after seeing the young and beautiful Setsuko Hara.
Setsuko Hara also received a mission from the emperor before coming to the party. Therefore, at the party, she took the initiative to make overtures to MacArthur. For the beauty's embrace, he did not refuse.
After Setsuko Hara also became MacArthur's mistress, she repeatedly persuaded him not to abolish the emperor of Japan.
MacArthur originally planned to protect the emperor system, so after hearing about the "pillow wind" of the beauty, he also pushed the boat to make a personal favor.
Perhaps in the eyes of the Japanese emperor, the preservation of the emperor's position was largely due to his own calculations, but in fact it was MacArthur's attempt to ensure the smooth implementation of the occupation policy against Japan.
Moreover, as can be seen from the above, MacArthur also received a promise from Japan that it would forever renounce the right to wage war as a national sovereignty.
This means that after the war, Japan will no longer have land, sea, air, and other military war forces.
This is also in line with the expectations of the post-war US government for Japan, so that this country no longer has the ability to fight foreign wars, and it has completely become the "little brother" of the United States.
In 1950, after the establishment of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the United States called the Soviet Union irresponsible militarism and sent a delegation to Japan.
At this time, MacArthur claimed that in order to help demilitarized Japan defend itself against the threat from the Soviet Union, it was necessary to station troops in Japan. Thus, the US military was given a glossy excuse to be stationed in Japan.
Because MacArthur had preserved the emperor system from the United States, Japan had already regarded him as the "emperor," so MacArthur was able to use the Soviet Union as an opportunity to promote the finalization of the U.S. policy of stationing troops in Japan.
It can be seen that since MacArthur set foot in Japan in 1945, he has been advancing his occupation policy of Japan step by step.
Resources:
CNKI, "MacArthur and the Problem of Understanding Japanese History" - Lei Xuan
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