Editing Occupation of Japan (section)

== The "Reverse Course" ==
{{Main|Reverse Course}}

The '''{{nihongo|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]].{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} In particular, U.S. priorities shifted from punishing and reforming Japan to ensuring internal political stability, rebuilding the shattered economy, and remilitarizing Japan to the extent possible under [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution|Article 9]], in support of U.S. [[Cold War]] objectives in [[East Asia]].{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} This involved relaxing and in some cases even partially undoing earlier reforms the Occupation had enacted in 1945 and 1946.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} As a [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] official history puts it, "this 'Reverse Course'...focused on strengthening, not punishing, what would become a key Cold War ally."<ref>[https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/17740.htm "Korean War and Japan's Recovery"] in ''Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History, 1945-1952'', U.S. Department of State.</ref>

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.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} Thereafter, the broader shift in Occupation policies became more and more apparent.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} Thousands of conservative and nationalist wartime leaders were de-purged and allowed to reenter politics and government ministries.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} In 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.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} The incomplete suppression of the ''zaibatsu'' allowed them to partially reform as "informal associations" known as ''[[keiretsu]].''{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=10-11}} 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.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}}
[[File:Hayato Ikeda meets Joseph Dodge.jpg|thumb|[[Joseph Dodge]] meets Finance Minister [[Hayato Ikeda]] in 1949.]]
In order to stabilize 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 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.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9}} 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.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=9-10}} The "[[Fall of China|fall]]" of [[China]] to the communists in 1949 and the outbreak of the [[Korean War]] in 1950 had heightened [[Conservatism|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 [[Left-wing politics|leftists]] from government posts, private sector jobs, and teaching positions at schools and universities.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=10}}

The Reverse Course significantly weakened left-wing forces and strengthened conservatives, laying the foundations for decades of conservative rule.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=11}} 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 Struggle|Miike Coal Mine Strike]], both in 1960.{{sfn|Kapur|2018|p=11, 135}}