Colonial Japan, occupied Japan

Abstract

The question of whether, how, and when a reverse course occurred during the allied occupation of Japan is much more dif- ficult to answer than it would seem at first sight. Certain political actors on the Japanese side not only profited from a shift in the priorities of the occupation objectives, but rather contributed to this shift actively. As a matter of fact, it may be argued that a great part of the phenomena summarily called "reverse course" originated on the Japanese side, just as it has recently come to be pointed out that the positive reform measures of the earlier part of the occupation period to a large degree rested on Japanese initiative. This in turn raises the question of just who actually had the decisive power to bring about changes.