When we first started seeing the signs in both
China and Japan we could not tell the difference between the Chinese characters
and Japanese characters. Both appeared
similar at first, very intricate and seemingly complicated. Now we have a much better appreciation of
their unique visual characteristics.
Unlike the Chinese characters, of which there are over 4,000, the
Japanese actually have a 51 letter alphabet.
The Japanese words are spelled out, much like in English only with more
intricate character letters. The Chinese
characters are representative of more complex thoughts. For example, three characters might take the
place of two sentences written in English.
Very few Chinese citizens know all 4,000 characters but by the ninth
grade, they have learned the meaning of up to 2,000 of them and can more than
get by. Don’t ask me why, but I just
think that is fascinating.
O.K. so I promised we would talk a bit about the
Occupation Period of Japanese history.
World War II ended badly for the Japanese. The official surrender occurred on 9/2/45 aboard
the aircraft carrier Missouri, which, ironically, was flying the same flag from
Commodore Perry’s warship that had entered Tokyo Harbor 92 years earlier in
search of trade agreements. By that time
over three million Japanese soldiers and civilians had been killed, most of the
major cities had been destroyed and nine million were homeless. Nearly 65 % of all urban homes had been
destroyed and 35 % of all rural homes as well.
250,000 Allied troops had entered Japan by 8/28/45 and the occupation
was underway.
At the Potsdam Conference, British Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill; President Franklin Roosevelt and Russian Prime Minister
Joseph Stalin met to determine Japan’s fate.
It was decided that Japan would be under extended military occupation,
that they would be required to pay reparations to the countries they invaded
and fought against and that democratization of their society would be
accomplished.
General Douglas MacArthur was brought out of
retirement and, despite few qualifying credentials and no involvement in the
creation of the policies to be implemented, was appointed Commander of Allied
Occupation Forces.
In short, a Constitution was drafted which called
for the reformation of civil law, the economy, the education system and police
activities. Rearmament was forbidden and
the right to solve future differences with other nation by declaring war was
abolished forever. The Emperor was
retained in a form of constitutional monarchy but most other cultural norms
were changed. The Constitution
established equality of the sexes, the right to inherit property and totally
revamped civil legislation. In the first
free election, which occurred in 1946, women were given the vote and 3,000
candidates from dozens of different parties competed for 466 legislative seats
in the Parliament and courts. The
Zaibatsu, those vertically integrated industrial giants of production,
marketing and finance I mentioned last time, were systematically dissolved. The families were given bonds for their
interest in these companies, but the economy was struggling and those bonds
ended up being worth a fraction of the original value. There was 500 % inflation in 1946 and up another
335 % in 1946.
All land was subject to mandatory confiscation and
then redistributed. 85 % of the land
went to the peasants and over 5 million acres changed hands. Three million tenant farmers became
landowners virtually overnight. There
was massive educational reform. In 1945
there were only 20 colleges in Japan. By
1952 there were over 200 with compulsory education through the 9th
grade. Despite the ban on military
force, a 75,000 man “police force” was authorized and without central control.
The world wanted to punish Japan for not only
provoking the war and their aggressive occupation of the majority of the
Pacific Rim countries but for the brutality with which they did it. Even Japanese citizens were angry at the
actions and behavior of their military.
An example: only 6 % of prisoners
of war died in German prison camps, while over 27 % died in Japanese prison
camps. This led to The Purges.
During The Purges there were three levels of war
crimes that were tried in the courts. Category
“A” represented bringing the major criminals who were responsible for the war
to justice. This included General Tojo,
who was blamed for the war instead of the Emperor. Category “B” represented individuals
responsible for general war crimes against humanity. Category “C” represented individuals who
failed to prevent those same general war crimes against humanity. In May, 1946 twenty-eight individuals were
charged with Category A war crimes.
After a 31 month trial, Tojo and seven others were sentenced to death
and 21 got life sentences. In Categories
B and C, 2,700 were indicted, 984 were sentenced to death and 475 received life
sentences without possibility for parole although some terms were later reduced.
By 1948 President Truman wanted MacArthur to cut
occupation costs and focus on fiscal, monetary and economic policy
changes. The trust busting stopped and
the economy improved. The Korean War was
good for Japan as America pumped money into military bases and signed long-term
leases for those bases. Through a series
of peace treaties signed with the U.S. and other countries, Japan was able to
not only recover from the war but build an economy that became the envy of the
world. Almost against all predictions
and odds, Japan, not China, became the United States primary Asian ally.
Next up, Hiroshima. All I can say is….NOT TO BE MISSED! Until then,
God Bless you all.
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