Japan Occupied: Survival of Academic Freedom

Description

This book documents Japan's psychological deterioration caused by its defeat in August 1945. Also, Japan’s traumatic transformation from authoritarianism to democracy is detailed. The study exposes an ideological war between the Soviet Union and the USA within American-occupied Japan, which triggered violent polarization among the Japanese. Under General MacArthur’s tutorage, the defeated Japanese were expected to become a peace-loving people, but the Cold War derailed Japan’s progress toward freedom and democracy. The “Red Purge,” instituted by MacArthur's Headquarters (GHQ) from 1949 to 1950, triggered the devastating side effects on Japan's academic freedom and freedom of speech.   Stanford University Professor Dr. Walter C. Eells (1886–1962) served at the GHQ as an influential education adviser and became the most vocal advocate of the Red Purge. Japanese Marxist historians have constructed the popular postwar narrative of the Red Purge, blaming the GHQ for every failure.   The vast archival materials, including the GHQ papers, Eells papers, and Japanese-language documents, revealed that the Red Purge was a serious propaganda battle between the Americans and the Soviets in a war-torn Japan. This propaganda war engendered the violently polarized political climate, in which the conservative Japanese government behaved according to the dictates of US Cold War policy. By revealing feverish tensions within the GHQ regarding communist influences in Japanese universities, this study sheds bright new light on the Red Purge and its lasting impact on Japan's political future. Preface Contents About the Author 1 Introduction 2 Religion and Education in Pre-war Japan: Building a New Identity and Suppressing “Dangerous Thoughts” 2.1 Survey of Pre-Modern Japan 2.1.1 Modernization of Japan 2.2 Establishment of the National School System 2.3 Conservative Backlash and the Kokutai Ideology 2.4 Struggle for University Autonomy and Academic Freedom 2.5 Imperial University Administration 2.6 The Influence of Marxism on Intellectuals 2.7 Suppression of “Dangerous Thoughts” 2.7.1 The Birth of the Japanese Communist Party 2.8 The War and Thought Control 2.8.1 Education During the War Appendix: Imperial Rescript on Education References 3 The GHQ’s Initial Reforms: The Dismantling of Japan 3.1 The US Education Reform Policy 3.1.1 Bonner F. Fellers: “An Amateur Psychologist” 3.1.2 The US Plan: “Reorientation of the Japanese” 3.1.3 Education Minister Maeda Begins His Reforms 3.1.4 Maeda as a Liberal 3.2 The US Launches the Spiritual Disarmament of the Japanese 3.2.1 The New Constitution 3.3 Initial US Reforms Favored Japanese Communists Appendix: Imperial Rescript, January 1, 1946 References 4 General Headquarters (GHQ) Versus Japanese Communist Party 4.1 US State Department Policy on Japanese Communists 4.2 GHQ’s Attitude Toward the Japanese Communist Party 4.3 The Cold War and US Occupation Policies References 5 University Reform 5.1 Japanese Initiatives for Education Reform 5.2 Eells’ Plan for University Overhaul 5.2.1 Eells Versus Nanbara References 6 Communism in Universities 6.1 Eells’ Shifting Position 6.1.1 Shift to the Right 6.1.2 The Dodge Line: Retrenchment 6.2 Anti-communist Movement in Universities 6.3 The Eells Speech 6.4 Anti-communism and Academic Freedom in the US References 7 Covert Red Purge in Education 7.1 Restricting Political Activities of Civil Servants in Education 7.2 Red Purge in the Name of Budgetary Cutbacks 7.3 Eells Faced Students and Professors 7.4 Anti-communists Revealed References 8 Japanese Communists’ Propaganda Against the United States 8.1 The Eells Incidents and Japanese Reactions References 9 Japanese Government Launches the Red Purge 9.1 The US State Department Moves Against Communists 9.2 The Korean War: A Violent Catalyst for the Red Purge 9.2.1 Second US Education Mission to Japan: Cheerleader from the US 9.2.2 Student Radicals Protest the Red Purge 9.3 The CIE’s Response to the Red Purge 9.3.1 The Rehabilitation and the Red Purge 9.4 Eells’ Passion for the Red Purge References 10 War of Ideas 10.1 The US Post-occupation Policy Toward Japan 10.2 NGO-Initiated Cultural Propaganda Activities in Japan References Conclusion Index