East Asia Final

Front 1

Allied Occupation of Japan

Back 1

- General MacArthur named Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP) during Allied occupation of Japan following the war until 1951
- Japan is demilitarized. The State Shinto (national religion) is diestablished, and Zaibatsu is disbanded
- Under SCAP, a new constitution is established after the Diet ratifies it, which makes the Emperor a symbolic position and introduces human rights and structural reforms

Front 2

"Comfort Women" System

Back 2

- A large-scale, officially-organized system of rape by the Imperial Japanese forces
- ~200,000 women involved; 80% Korean, 80% btwn 14-18 yrs
- Rationale of military was that sex worked as charm against injury and helped deal with stress of combat
- Led to troubled intimate relationships later
- Japanese give $800 million in aid to Korea as reparations according to 1965 treaty

Front 3

Fifteen-Year War

Back 3

- Japan's "Undeclared" war in China. 1931-37
- Second Sino-Japanese War. 1937-45
- Second World War 1939-45

Front 4

Fire Bombings of Tokyo

Back 4

- 1944-45: Bombings of Japan from Mariana Islands
- Allied bombings of Japan that were made to start and spread fires, since Tokyo was mostly wooden buildings
- ~ 1 million Japanese die over 6 month period

Front 5

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Back 5

- Dec 1941 onward: Expansion into SE Asia and the Pacific
- An ideology of autarkic expansion/rule promulgated in 1943
- First half of 1942: rapid expansion (acquisition of Singapore, Philippines, Burma, Dutch East Indies, Central and South Pacific Islands)
- Nov 1942: Government founds the Greater East Asia Ministry; holds conference in 1943

Front 6

Hibakusha

Back 6

- refers to survivors of Allied atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, namely the radiation
- Long-term effects of radiation were less severe than anticipated, but it was nevertheless horrendous for the Hibakusha

Front 7

Japan-US Battle of Okinawa

Back 7

- April - June 1945
- One of largest battles in Pacific War, bloodiest (90% of Japanese military dies)
- Civilians suffer a great deal. US can't distinguish, and Japanese show indifference (murdered, left to starve, etc.)

Front 8

"San Francisco Treaty System"

Back 8

- The San Francisco Treaty System refers to a classification by Dower (in our readings) of two treaties signed in San Francisco, one formally ending the war and the other giving America the right to place military forces in Japan; Sept. 1951
- Dower argues that the sovereign status of Japan after WWII has been of "subordinate independence" when it comes to foreign policy decision-making by US
- Territorial disputes that remain include the Diaoyu and the Kurile Islands

Front 9

Tokyo War Crimes Trials

Back 9

- Began in April 1946 to try Japanese leaders for war crimes and lasted two and a half years
- Unlike the Nuremberg trials, the international judges at Tokyo were very split in their final decisions
- Those involved in the Comfort Women cases and Unit 731 were not prosecuted at these trials
- "Planned and executed aggressive war," "enabled atrocities"

Front 10

Repatriations 1945-47

Back 10

- Millions of Japanese who were scattered throughout islands in Western Pacific were sent back to Japan, and many aliens in Japan were forced from their homes and sent abroad
- Japanese repatriates experienced social isolation
- Caused a shift in perception of Japan as a multiethnic empire into a mono-ethnic nation

Front 11

Yasukuni Shrine

Back 11

- Shinto shrine to Japan's war dead from 1868-1945 in Tokyo
- Symbolized unity of the emperor and his subjects during the imperial period
- In 1978, war criminals were enshrined as "martyrs of the Showa era"

Front 12

Cartoon

Back 12

- Drawn by Dr. Seuss in Feb. 1942
- Propaganda showing Japanese on west coast lining up to receive TNT in effort to hurt US in war effort
- "Fifth column" refers to "secret sympathizers or supporters of the enemy"

Front 13

Women sitting under tent

Back 13

- comfort women taken into protective custody by Allied powers
- Burma, August 1944

Front 14

Soldiers & flag

Back 14

- "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima"
- February 23, 1945
- shows 5 US marines and a navy corpsman raising flag atop Mount Suribachi during Battle of Iwo Jima
- Heavy losses on both sides, Japanese defeat inevitable

Front 15

2 officials standing side by side

Back 15

- General MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito at the American Embassy in Tokyo in Sept. 1945

Front 16

2 men sitting outside

Back 16

- Navajo Code Talkers
- Despite their oppressed history in the US, when the gov't called for help, Navajos responded positively. Philip Johnston comes up with code he thought would be unbreakable based on the Navajo language.
- Misidentification was a problem for code talkers