Cultural memories of occupation in the Japanese cinema theatre, 1945-52

In some respects the Allied occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952 would appear to be a relatively straightforward kind of occupation, which could be characterized fairly simply as 'a form of government imposed by force or threat thereof'. Following the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which ended a protracted and widespread military campaign of fifteen years in East Asia and the Pacific region, Japan was extremely vulnerable to further force, or the threat of force, from the victorious Allies. Prominent historians such as John Dower have argued that the citizens of postwar Japan even embraced defeat. The Allied occupation of Japan, lead predominantly by US forces (except in Hiroshima, Tottori, Okayama, Shimane, Yamaguchi and the island of Shikoku), is popularly understood as a successful example of occupation, laying the ground for a special relationship between Japan and the United States for decades to come.