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Japan under Occupation
An essential story of the Occupation concerns how the United States and Japan could change their unimaginable political and social rivalry to one important ally. Amid the Pacific War (1941–45), the propaganda machines of both countries decried and dehumanized the enemy to a great and dangerous level (Gordon and Andrew 14). Every side was characterized by different atrocities, yet engaged just on those conferred by the other, and the citizens on both sides of the Pacific were on alert to expect the worse from each other. The Japanese had seen sixty-six of their significant urban areas and major cities demolished by the fierce fire of bombs and reduced to ashes. The twin bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 cannot escape many people's mind. At their occurrences, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings brought an unexpected end to what has been known as a 'war without mercy', yet the choice to surrender was contradicted by military leaders until the Emperor interceded and broke a gridlock that existed among his senior advisors. Japan's almost 15 year frenzy through Asia (1931–45) was done, at last killing an expected 3 million Japanese and more than 15 million Asians, for the most part in China. Japanese mercilessness actions in war, including abuse of prisoners-of-war (POWs), created assumptions favoring retaliation and punishment. It was in this unfriendly atmosphere that US troops arrived in Japan and started the Occupation (Higley, John and Burton 48). The American government argued that developing a democratic nation in Japan included change in every aspect of Japanese life. Under MacArthur and with the collaboration of the Japanese, Japan embraced colossal changes in only seven short years. This is the time that the occupation took place (1945 to 1952).
At the end of the war, it was the basic

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