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85-551: JMA may refer to: Japan Medical Association , professional association of licensed physicians in Japan Japan Meteorological Agency , Japanese government agency that researches natural phenomena Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar , Islamist jihadist group fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the government. Jimmy Miranda Award , a proposed category during

170-696: A constitution which was patterned after the American Medical Association, with voluntary membership, executive offices elected by popular vote, and association business to be conducted through democratic procedures. These activities led to the JMA being admitted to the World Medical Association in 1951. The JMA, in advocating for its members, has come into conflict with the Ministry of Welfare over amounts for medical fees. The main activities of

255-516: A document titled " U.S. Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan ". The document set two main objectives for the occupation: eliminating Japan's war potential and turning Japan into a democratic nation with pro- United Nations orientation. By the end of 1945, around 430,000 American soldiers were stationed throughout Japan. Of the main Japanese islands, Kyushu was occupied by the 24th Infantry Division , with some responsibility for Shikoku . Honshu

340-534: A food distribution network. Following the collapse of the ruling government and the wholesale destruction of most major cities, virtually the entire Japanese populace was starving. The air raids on Japan's urban centers left millions displaced, and food shortages (created by bad harvests and the demands of the war) worsened when the seizure of foodstuffs from Korea, Taiwan, and China ceased. Repatriation of Japanese people living in other parts of Asia and hundreds of thousands of demobilized prisoners of war only aggravated

425-598: A key Cold War ally." An early sign of the shift in SCAP's thinking came in January 1947 when MacArthur announced that he would not permit a massive, nationwide general strike that labor unions had scheduled for February 1. Thereafter, the broader shift in Occupation policies became more and more apparent. Thousands of conservative and nationalist wartime leaders were de-purged and allowed to reenter politics and government ministries. In

510-532: A national level was made under the name Japan Allied Medical Association ( 日本連合医師会 , Nippon Rengō Ishikai ) in 1914, but the association failed to enlist a sufficient number of prefectural-level medical associations. On November 10, 1916, the Greater Japan Medical Association ( 大日本医師会 , Dainippon Ishikai ) was established by the Minister for Interior Affairs , and then later renamed

595-418: A number of public national public health systems, including the following: As of 2015, there were approximately 167,000 members of the JMA organised under one of the forty-seven prefectural medical associations. Self-employed physicians make up the largest number of members, followed by hospital or small clinic-based physicians, and hospital residents. Shinya Yamanaka was co-awarded (with John B. Gurdon )

680-475: A post-war occupation of Japan began as early as February 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt established an Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy to advise him on the postwar reconstruction of Germany , Italy , and Japan ( Axis powers ). On matters related to Japan, this committee was later succeeded by the smaller Inter-Departmental Area Committee on the Far East (IDAFE), which met 234 times between

765-525: A result of changes in priorities in connection with the " Reverse Course ," in the end only the 11 largest companies were dissolved. The Labor Standards Act was enacted on April 7, 1947, to govern working conditions in Japan. According to Article 1 of the Act, its goal was to ensure that "Working conditions shall be those which should meet the needs of workers who live lives worthy of human beings." Support stemming from

850-680: A role in establishing the Thai National Cancer Centre in Bangkok. In 2000, King Birendra of Nepal , decorated Tsuboi for his long term contributions to Nepal. JMA members have also served the WMA in many other executive roles including Chair of the WMA Council and vice-president. The JMA produces a variety of medical related programming for the public and allied medical persons including but not limited to: Occupation of Japan Japan

935-471: A threat to world peace. Reforms targeted all major sectors of Japanese society, government, and economy. Historians have emphasized similarities to the American New Deal programs of the 1930s. Moore and Robinson note that, "New Deal liberalism seemed natural, even to conservative Republicans such as MacArthur and Whitney ." Before reforms could be undertaken, MacArthur's first priority was to set up

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1020-639: A week before the official surrender ceremony, 150 US personnel flew to Atsugi , Kanagawa Prefecture . They were followed by the USS Missouri , whose accompanying vessels landed the 4th Marine Regiment on the southern coast of Kanagawa. The 11th Airborne Division was airlifted from Okinawa to Atsugi Airdrome , 50 kilometres (30 mi) from Tokyo . Other Allied personnel followed. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on August 30 and immediately decreed several laws. No Allied personnel were to assault Japanese people or eat

1105-495: Is also a regular area for advocacy. Clinical malpractice has become a focus of the association, particularly how best to protect medical physicians in legal proceedings. As Kodate notes, while there has not yet been "the emergence of a new accountability regime, increased pressure is now placed on healthcare providers in terms of monitoring performances, collecting information and making decisions on how to act when serious incidents occur." The Japan Medical Association maintains

1190-597: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Japan Medical Association With the increasing introduction of western medicine, medical research and peer support among doctors developed during the Meiji period of the late 1800s. In 1879, medical practitioners who subscribed to the practice of kampo medicine ( traditional Chinese medicine ) began to organise themselves in response to Western medicine's growing presence in post- Meiji restoration Japan. Those physicians formed

1275-502: The Diet passed Japan's first ever trade union law protecting the rights of workers to form or join a union, to organize, and take industrial action. There had been pre-war attempts to do so, but none that were successfully passed until the Allied occupation. A new Trade Union Law was passed on June 1, 1949, which remains in place to the present day. According to Article 1 of the Act, the purpose of

1360-586: The GHQ of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers . The most notable reform involved persons who had contributed to the war effort and who would no longer be permitted to accept executive appointments in the ongoing business of the association. Following this directive, Toshihiko Nakayama, the chairman of the association at the time, announced that he and others with similar positions would no longer hold offices in

1445-966: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Ichigaya , were trying Japan's war criminals and sentencing many to death and imprisonment. However, many suspects such as Masanobu Tsuji , Nobusuke Kishi , Yoshio Kodama and Ryōichi Sasakawa were never judged, while the Emperor Hirohito , all members of the imperial family implicated in the war such as Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu (younger brother of Hirohito), Prince Yasuhiko Asaka , Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu , former prime minister Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni ( Princess Shigeko , Hirohito's eldest daughter's father-in-law) and Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda , and all members of Unit 731 —including its director Dr. Shirō Ishii —were granted immunity from criminal prosecution by General MacArthur. Before

1530-509: The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty , which has allowed US troops to remain based on Japanese soil on an indefinite basis. Even after the Occupation officially ended in 1952, a total of 260,000 American soldiers remained based on mainland Japan (exclusive of U.S.-controlled Okinawa, which based tens of thousands more). Even today, some 31,000 US military personnel remain based in Japan, including at major bases near Tokyo , Hiroshima , Nagasaki , Aomori , Sapporo , and Ishikari . Popular anger at

1615-494: The US-Japan Security Treaty (replaced by the revised treaty in 1960 ) allowed tens of thousands of American soldiers to remain based in Japan indefinitely, albeit at the invitation of the Japanese government and not as an occupation force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history . The occupation of Japan can be usefully divided into three phases:

1700-548: The Yoshida Doctrine , Japan continued to prioritize economic growth over defense spending, relying on American military protection to ensure it could focus mainly on economic recovery. Through "guided capitalism," Japan was able to use its resources to economically recover from the war and revive industry, eventually sparking a lengthy period of unprecedented economic growth remembered as the Japanese economic miracle occurred from

1785-600: The de facto remilitarization of Japan. The occupation officially ended with the coming into force of the Treaty of San Francisco , signed on September 8, 1951, and effective from April 28, 1952, after which the US military ceased any direct involvement in the country's civil administration thus effectively restoring full sovereignty to Japan with the exception of the Ryukyu Islands ( Okinawa Prefecture ). The simultaneous implementation of

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1870-448: The landlords under the government's reform program and resold at extremely low prices (after inflation) to the farmers who worked them. MacArthur's land reform redistribution resulted in only 10% of the land being worked by non-owners. By 1950, three million peasants had acquired land, dismantling a power structure that the landlords had long dominated. While these other reforms were taking place, various military tribunals, most notably

1955-559: The 1930s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1947, a sweeping amendment to the Meiji Constitution was passed that effectively repealed it in its entirety and replaced it with a new, American-written constitution , and the Emperor's theoretically vast powers, which for many centuries had been constrained only by conventions that had evolved over time, became strictly limited by law as a constitutional monarchy . While Article 9 of

2040-492: The 1960s to the Lost Decades of the 1990s. 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 occupation troops. Many Japanese civilians and government officials feared that the Allied occupation troops were likely to rape Japanese women. "The strategy was, through

2125-567: The 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work in proving that mature cells could be converted into stem cells . The result of the work of Yamanaka and Gurdon is considered to be a scientific milestone in human regenerative medicine . Two past presidents of the JMA, Taro Takemi and Eitaka Tsuboi , have served as president of the World Medical Association . Tsuboi pioneered cancer research and treatment in Japan and Asia, self-funded school and community health programs in Nepal, and had

2210-584: The Allied Powers (SCAP) to oversee the surrender and occupation of Japan. Truman agreed, and MacArthur asked his staff in Manila to begin making concrete preparations for the occupation of Japan. As the Soviets moved in to occupy their allotted territories, some Japanese forces continued to resist even after the Japanese surrender. Such operations included final battles on the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin well past

2295-412: The Allied occupation has introduced better working conditions and pay for numerous employees in Japanese business. This allowed for more sanitary and hygienic working environments along with welfare and government assistance for health insurance, pensions plans and work involving other trained specialists. While it was created while Japan was under occupation, the origins of the Act have nothing to do with

2380-745: The Allies in the Potsdam Declaration to Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki and his administration . On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender to the Japanese people in a nationwide radio broadcast . Two days after Japanese Emperor's first radio broadcast informing the surrender of Japan, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (a member of Japanese imperial family and father-in-law of Hirohito's eldest daughter, Shigeko Higashikuni ) became first post-war Prime Minister on August 17, 1945. Japanese officials left for Manila on August 19 to meet MacArthur and to discuss surrender terms. On August 28, 1945,

2465-597: The American decision to exonerate the emperor of war responsibility and then, in the chill of Cold War , release and soon afterwards openly embrace accused right-wing war criminals like the later prime minister Kishi Nobusuke . 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 Japan to ensuring internal political stability, rebuilding

2550-511: The Emperor theoretically unlimited powers. The new constitution drew inspiration from the U.S. Bill of Rights , New Deal social legislation, the liberal constitutions of several European states and even the Soviet Union, and transferred sovereignty from the Emperor to the people in an attempt to depoliticize the Throne and reduce it to the status of a state symbol. Included in the revised charter

2635-463: The Emperor would be spared from indictment." According to historian John W. Dower , "With the full support of MacArthur's headquarters, the prosecution functioned, in effect, as a defense team for the emperor." In Dower's view, Even Japanese peace activists who endorse the ideals of the Nuremberg and Tokyo charters, and who have labored to document and publicize Japanese atrocities, cannot defend

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2720-549: The Imperial Medical Association ( 帝国医会 , Teikoku ikai ) in 1890 to advocate for the practice of Chinese ( kampo ) medicine, but the IMA was dissolved in 1898. As the medical profession continued to develop in line with Western scientific advances of the time, the public wanted to legally regulate medical organisations. In 1906, statutory procedures were implemented to organise professional association activities at

2805-543: The JMA are to improve university medical education programs, promote and support medical research, provide professional development through continuing education to members, and collaborate with national and international governments on special clinical public healthcare projects such as disaster relief medicine . The JMA has been involved in political lobbying since its inception. The main areas of advocacy include protecting physicians' interests in clinical practice, public health related policy, clinical fee adjustments set by

2890-523: The Japan Medical Association in 1923. The JMA required by law that all Japanese physicians practicing in clinics and hospitals outside the national and Imperial armed forces hospital system to join. During World War II , the JMA served as the sole national association responsible to maintain and improve clinical health for the Japanese public. During the post-war period the Japan Medical Association underwent reforms with direct intervention from

2975-523: The Japanese Imperial Headquarters was dissolved. By December, all Japanese military forces in the Japanese home islands were fully disbanded. Occupation forces also exploded or dumped into the sea over 2 million tons of unused munitions and other war materiel. The issuing of the Removal of Restrictions on Political, Civil, and Religious Liberties directive by SCAP on October 4, 1945, led to

3060-455: The Japanese economy as soon as possible, American banker Joseph Dodge was brought in as an economic consultant. Dodge implemented the " Dodge Line " in 1949, a set of draconian contractionary fiscal and monetary policies that caused much hardship for the Japanese populace but succeeded in getting rampant inflation under control. Dodge also fixed the exchange rate at 360 yen to the dollar, a favorable rate that would help boost Japanese exports in

3145-498: The Occupation, in addition to thousands of civilian contractors and tens of thousands of dependents. The American forces were supplemented by around 40,000 troops from the British Commonwealth . The official British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), composed of Australian , British , Indian and New Zealand personnel, did not begin deployment to Japan until February 21, 1946. While U.S. forces were responsible for

3230-428: 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 occupation, was signed on September 8, 1951. It came into effect on April 28, 1952, formally ending all occupation powers of the Allied forces and restoring full sovereignty to Japan, except for the island chains of Iwo Jima and Okinawa , which

3315-499: The Soviet Union's future existence. He therefore placed a far greater priority on establishing Soviet communist influence in Europe rather than in Asia. Following the dropping of atomic bombs and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan , on the night of 9–10 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his decision that the Japanese government should accept the terms demanded by

3400-523: The United States continued to hold. American occupation forces remained in Japan in a diminished capacity, until the dissolution of the Far East Command on July 1, 1957. Iwo Jima was returned to Japan in 1968, and most of Okinawa was returned in 1972 . As a condition of securing the end of the Occupation and the restoration of Japanese sovereignty, Japan was compelled by the United States to agree to

3485-641: The United States, the Far Eastern Commission decided that Japan was to be partly de-industrialized. In the end, SCAP adopted a program of de-industrialization and de-concentration in Japan that was implemented to a lesser degree than the similar U.S. "industrial disarmament" program in Germany . To this end, the prewar zaibatsu industrial conglomerates were pressured into undergoing "voluntary" dissolution into smaller independent companies. Although SCAP originally planned to break up 325 Japanese companies, as

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3570-507: The WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title JMA . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=JMA&oldid=1230156452 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

3655-634: The abolition of the Peace Preservation Law and the release of all political prisoners. Japanese communists were released from jail, and the Japan Communist Party was granted legal status. On December 15, 1945, the Shinto Directive was issued, abolishing Shinto as a state religion and prohibiting some of its teachings and rites that were deemed to be militaristic or ultra-nationalistic. On December 22, 1945, at SCAP's direction,

3740-610: The act is to "elevate the status of workers by promoting their being on equal standing with the employer". In January 1946, SCAP issued directives calling for the purge of wartime officials from public offices. Individuals targeted in the purge included accused war criminals, military officers, leaders of ultranationalist societies, leaders in the Imperial Rule Assistance Association , business leaders involved in Japanese overseas economic expansion, governors of former Japanese colonies, and national leaders involved in

3825-550: The association. Without the demands of World War II on the medical fraternity, the association was able to refocus efforts on school, occupation, and community health in addition to standard clinical healthcare. On November 1, 1947, toward the end of the Allied occupation of Japan , the association recommenced operation under the name "Japan Medical Association" as a non-governmental organization , which previously had been under direct Imperial government control. The newly founded JMA had

3910-471: The autumn of 1942 and the summer of 1945 and had frequent discussions with two US presidents, Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman . During the war, the Allied Powers had planned to divide Japan amongst themselves for the purposes of occupation, as was done for the Allied-occupied Germany . Under the final plan, however, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) was to be given direct control over

3995-569: The cabinet voted unanimously to grant women the right to vote. Two days later, before any action was taken to enact the cabinet's decision, General MacArthur issued his five-point reform directive, one of the points being an order to liberate Japanese women through enfranchisement. After MacArthur issued his directive, the Japanese government officially lowered the voting age and extended the voting franchise to women in future elections. On April 10, 1946, first post-war Japanese general election with 78.52% voter turnout among men and 66.97% among women

4080-650: The communists in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 had heightened conservative fears that communism was on the march in East Asia . Against this backdrop, the Japanese government and business leaders, with the connivance and encouragement of SCAP, purged tens of thousands of communists, alleged communists, and other leftists from government posts, private sector jobs, and teaching positions at schools and universities. The Reverse Course significantly weakened left-wing forces and strengthened conservatives, laying

4165-656: The constitution explicitly forbade Japan from maintaining a military or pursuing war as a means to settle international disputes, this policy soon became problematic especially as neighboring China fell under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and the Korean War broke out. As a result, the National Police Reserve (NPR) was founded in 1950. The NPR was reorganized into the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in 1954, effectively completing

4250-517: The continuing presence of these U.S. military bases in Japan even after the official end of the Occupation continued to grow over the course of the 1950s, leading to a nationwide anti-base movement and a number of spectacular protests, including Bloody May Day in 1952, the Sunagawa Struggle from 1955 to 1957, and the Girard Incident protests in 1957. Partially in response to these protests,

4335-460: The decisions leading Japan into war. Ultimately, SCAP screened a total of 717,415 possible purgees, and wound up excluding 201,815 of them from holding public office. However, as part of the " Reverse Course " in Occupation policy, most of the purgees would be de-purged and allowed to return to public life by 1951. After Japan's surrender, women's leaders in Japan began calling for women's enfranchisement. In August 1945, Ichikawa Fusae (a leader of

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4420-481: The end of August in 1945. In the end, despite its initial hopes, the Soviet Union did not manage to occupy any part of the Japanese home islands, largely due to significant U.S. opposition that was backed by the leverage gained by its then newly realized status as the world's only nuclear-armed state. In any case, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was not inclined to press the Americans very far following Japan's surrender. He

4505-414: The end of the Occupation, the United States has continuously pressured Japan to revise its American-imposed constitution to remove Article 9 and fully remilitarize. As a result, in 1954 the National Police Reserve was reorganized into the Japan Self-Defense Forces , a de facto military force, with U.S. assistance. However, thus far Japan has resisted U.S. pressures to fully rearm and remilitarize. Under

4590-465: The false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world. In 1947, the Diet ratified a new Constitution of Japan through amendment of Meiji Constitution that followed closely a "model copy" drafted by American civilian officials within SCAP, and was promulgated to replace the old Prussian -style Meiji Constitution that had granted

4675-414: The foundations for decades of conservative rule. At the same time, it did not completely destroy leftist forces that had been deliberately unleashed in the Occupation's early stages, setting the stage for extremely contentious political struggles and labor strife in the 1950s, culminating in the massive Anpo protests and Miike Coal Mine Strike , both in 1960. In 1949, MacArthur made a sweeping change in

4760-405: The guise of Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia, private relief organizations were also permitted to provide relief. Even with these measures, millions of people were still on the brink of starvation for several years after the surrender. Once the food network was in place, MacArthur set out to win the support of Hirohito. The two men met for the first time on September 27, 1945; the photograph of

4845-587: The hunger problem in Japan, as these people put more strain on already scarce resources. Around 5.1 million Japanese returned to Japan in the fifteen months following October 1, 1945, and another million returned in 1947. As expressed by Kazuo Kawai, "Democracy cannot be taught to a starving people". Initially, the U.S. government provided emergency food relief through Government Aid and Relief in Occupied Areas ( GARIOA ) funds. In fiscal year 1946, this aid amounted to US$ 92 million in loans. From April 1946, under

4930-510: The imperial throne and was effectively granted full immunity from prosecution for war crimes after he agreed to replace the wartime cabinet with a ministry acceptable to the Allies and committed to implementing the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , which among other things called for the country to become a parliamentary democracy . Under MacArthur's guidance, the Japanese government introduced sweeping social reforms and implemented economic reforms that recalled American " New Deal " priorities of

5015-551: The individuals arrested as Class A suspects and incarcerated in Sugamo prison solemnly vowed to protect their sovereign against any possible taint of war responsibility. Thus, months before the Tokyo tribunal commenced, MacArthur's highest subordinates were working to attribute ultimate responsibility for attack on Pearl Harbor to former prime minister Hideki Tojo by allowing "the major criminal suspects to coordinate their stories so that

5100-528: The industrial sector, plans for further anti-trust actions against the remains of the old zaibatsu industrial conglomerates were scrapped, and some earlier anti-trust policies were partially undone. The incomplete suppression of the zaibatsu allowed them to partially reform as "informal associations" known as keiretsu . SCAP also attempted to weaken the labor unions they had recently empowered, most notably issuing an edict stripping public-sector workers of their right to go on strike. In order to stabilize

5185-583: The initial effort to punish and reform Japan; the so-called " Reverse Course " in which the focus shifted to suppressing dissent and reviving the Japanese economy to support the US in the Cold War as a country of the Western Bloc ; and the final establishment of a formal peace treaty with the 48 Allies of the Second World War and an enduring military alliance with the United States. American planning for

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5270-482: The main islands of Japan ( Honshu , Hokkaido , Shikoku , and Kyushu ) and the immediately surrounding islands, while outlying possessions were divided between the Allied Powers as follows: In early August 1945, with Japan's surrender seeming probable, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended to President Harry S. Truman that Pacific Theatre Commander General Douglas MacArthur be named Supreme Commander for

5355-429: The national health insurance body, and legal procedures related to malpractice. For a period of almost ten years, from 1947 to 1956, the association defended physicians' rights to prescribe, formulate, and sell medicine, which the government proposed to prevent through a parliamentary bill . The JMA argued that income for physicians under the health insurance system alone was not economically sustainable, and therefore

5440-669: The occupation forces. It appears to have been the brainchild of Kosaku Teramoto, a former member of the Thought Police , who had become the head of the Labor Standards section of the Welfare Ministry. Before and during the war, Japanese education was based on the German system, with " Gymnasien " (selective grammar schools) and universities to train students after primary school. During the occupation, Japan's secondary education system

5525-527: The occupation of Japan. The establishment of a multilateral Allied council for Japan was proposed by the Soviet government as early as September 1945, and was supported partially by the British, French and Chinese governments. 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

5610-498: The only time in the history of Japan that it has been occupied by a foreign power. However, unlike in Germany, the Allies never assumed direct control over Japan's civil administration. In the immediate aftermath of Japan's military surrender, the country's government continued to formally operate under the provisions of the Meiji Constitution . Furthermore, at General MacArthur's insistence, Emperor Hirohito remained on

5695-422: The original 1951 Security Treaty was revised into a somewhat less one-sided pact in 1960, resulting in the current U.S.-Japan Security Treaty , which has had the effect of establishing a military alliance between the United States and Japan . However, even the revised treaty was opposed by many in Japan, leading to the massive 1960 Anpo protests , which were the largest protests in Japan's modern history. Since

5780-475: The overall occupation, BCOF was responsible for supervising demilitarization and the disposal of Japan's war industries. BCOF was also responsible for occupation of several western prefectures and had its headquarters at Kure . At its peak, the force numbered about 40,000 personnel. During 1947, BCOF began to decrease its activities in Japan, and officially wound up in 1951. The Far Eastern Commission and Allied Council for Japan were also established to supervise

5865-725: The political ammunition he needed to begin the real work of the occupation. While other Allied political and military leaders pushed for Hirohito to be tried as a war criminal , MacArthur resisted such calls, arguing that any such prosecution would be overwhelmingly unpopular with the Japanese people. He also rejected calls for abdication , promoted by some members of the imperial family such as Takahito, Prince Mikasa (younger brother of Hirohito) and former prime minister Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (Hirohito's eldest daughter, Princess Shigeko 's father-in-law) and demands of intellectuals like Tatsuji Miyoshi . Japanese soldiers were rapidly disarmed and demobilized en masse. On September 15, 1945,

5950-509: The pre-war women's suffrage movement) organized the Women's Committee to Cope with Postwar Conditions, a group of 70 Japanese women whose top priorities included women's enfranchisement. Swayed by the urges of female leaders, Home Minister Horiuchi Zenjiro advocated for granting women enfranchisement in a meeting of the Japanese male leaders of the Shidehara Cabinet on October 9, 1945. Convinced,

6035-501: The prefectural and local municipality levels, and to require physicians practicing medical services outside of the public hospitals system to join the member association branch in the locality where they practice medicine. Regional medical associations had emerged during the period after 1906, but no national organisation existed to regulate the 30,000 medical doctors practicing outside the national university and Imperial armed forces hospital systems. An attempt to organise physicians on

6120-562: The scarce Japanese food. Flying the Hinomaru (sun disc), national flag of Japan was initially severely restricted (although individuals and prefectural offices could apply for permission to fly it); this restriction was partially lifted in 1948 and completely lifted the following year. On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender . On September 6, U.S. President Truman approved

6205-415: The shattered economy, and remilitarizing Japan to the extent possible under Article 9 , in support of U.S. Cold War objectives in East Asia . This involved relaxing and in some cases even partially undoing earlier reforms the Occupation had enacted in 1945 and 1946. As a U.S. Department of State official history puts it, "this 'Reverse Course'...focused on strengthening, not punishing, what would become

6290-418: The two together is one of the most famous in Japanese history. Some were shocked that MacArthur wore his standard duty uniform with no tie, instead of his dress uniform, when meeting the Emperor Hirohito . The difference in height between the towering MacArthur and the diminutive Hirohito also impressed upon Japanese citizens who was in charge now. With the cooperation of Japan's reigning monarch, MacArthur had

6375-487: The war crimes trials actually convened, the SCAP, its International Prosecution Section (IPS) and Shōwa officials worked behind the scenes not only to prevent the imperial family from being indicted, but also to slant the testimony of the defendants to ensure that no one implicated the Emperor. High officials in court circles and the Shōwa government collaborated with Allied GHQ in compiling lists of prospective war criminals, while

6460-557: The years to come and power the Japanese economic miracle . As part of the Reverse Course, the United States also began pressuring Japan to remilitarize. In 1950, SCAP established the National Police Reserve (NPR), which would later become the basis of the present-day Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF), founded in 1954. The climax of the Reverse course came in the so-called " Red Purge " ( reddo pāji ) of 1950. The " fall " of China to

6545-590: Was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the American military with support from the British Commonwealth and under the supervision of the Far Eastern Commission , involved a total of nearly one million Allied soldiers. The occupation

6630-669: Was also resolved during this time. The Japanese writing system was drastically reorganized with the Tōyō kanji -list in 1946, predecessor of today's Jōyō kanji , and orthography was greatly altered to reflect spoken usage. A sweeping land reform was also conducted, led by Wolf Ladejinsky from SCAP. However, Ladejinsky would claim that the real architect of the reform was Hiroo Wada  [ ja ] , former Japanese Minister of Agriculture and Forestry . Between 1947 and 1949, approximately 5,800,000 acres (23,000 km ) of land (approximately 38% of Japan's cultivated land) were purchased from

6715-568: Was changed to incorporate three-year junior high schools and senior high schools similar to those in the United States: Junior high school became compulsory, but senior high school remained optional. The Imperial Rescript on Education was repealed, and the Imperial University system reorganized. The longstanding issue of Japanese script reform , which had been planned for decades but continuously opposed by more conservative elements,

6800-468: Was held, giving Japan its first prime minister partially elected by men and women, Shigeru Yoshida succeeded Kijūrō Shidehara as prime minister, took office on May 22, 1946. At SCAP's insistence, as part of a New Year's Day message, Emperor Hirohito publicly renounced his own divinity, declaring: The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on

6885-466: Was not willing to place Soviet troops under MacArthur's direct command. Furthermore, in terms of both strategic interests and prestige the Soviets had achieved most of their war aims in the Far East. Moreover, whereas China, Korea and Japan were all a considerable distance from the USSR's European heartland, Stalin regarded establishing a powerful buffer against further military threats from the west to be vital to

6970-517: Was occupied by the First Cavalry Division and Sixth Army . Hokkaido was occupied by the 77th Infantry and 11th Airborne Divisions. By the beginning of 1946, replacement troops began to arrive in the country in large numbers and were assigned to MacArthur's Eighth Army , headquartered in Tokyo's Dai-Ichi building. In total, including rotations of replacement troops throughout the seven years, nearly 1 million American soldiers would serve in

7055-610: Was overseen by the US General Douglas MacArthur , who was appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers by the US President Harry S. Truman ; MacArthur was succeeded as supreme commander by General Matthew Ridgway in 1951. Unlike in the occupations of Germany and Austria , the Soviet Union had little to no influence in Japan, declining to participate because it did not want to place Soviet troops under MacArthur's direct command. This foreign presence marks

7140-460: Was the famous Article Nine , whereby Japan forever renounced war as an instrument of state policy and became forbidden to maintain a standing army. The 1947 Constitution also officially enfranchised women, guaranteed fundamental human rights, strengthened the powers of Parliament and the Cabinet, and decentralized the police and local government. To further remove Japan as a potential future threat to

7225-403: Was the need for physicians to compound and sell their own formulated medications. The JMA was successful in protecting this practice. The JMA continues to lobby the government to adjust clinical fees derived from the national health insurance system, to be adjusted in line with the cost of living . Lobbying for financial accommodations related to administrating the universal health care system

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