Editing Occupation of Japan (section)

== Politics ==

Unlike [[Allied-occupied Germany]], the [[government of Japan]] continued to exist during the occupation. Although MacArthur's official staff history of the occupation referred to "the Eighth Army [[Military occupation|Military Government]] System", it explained that while "In Germany, with the collapse of the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi regime]], all government agencies disintegrated, or had to be purged", the Japanese retained an "integrated, responsible government and it continued to function almost intact":<ref name="macarthur1950">{{cite book | url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1%20Sup/ch7.htm | title=Reports of General MacArthur / MacArthur in Japan: The Occupation: Military Phase | publisher=Center for Military History, United States Army | year=1950 | pages=193–194 | access-date=2013-10-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110035537/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1%20Sup/ch7.htm | archive-date=2013-11-10 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{blockquote|In effect, there was no "military government" in Japan in the literal sense of the word. It was simply a SCAP superstructure over already existing government machinery, designed to observe and assist the Japanese along the new democratic channels of administration.}}

General [[Horace Robertson]] of Australia, head of BCOF, wrote:<ref name="awmwood">{{cite web | url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/BCOF_history.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104140103/https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/BCOF_history.pdf | archive-date=2009-11-04 | title=The Australian Military Contribution to the Occupation of Japan, 1945–1952 | publisher=Australian War Museum | access-date=August 12, 2012 | author=Wood, James | url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{blockquote|MacArthur at no time established in Japan what could be correctly described as Military government. He continued to use the Japanese government to control the country, but teams of military personnel, afterward replaced to quite a considerable extent by civilians, were placed throughout the [[Japanese prefectures]] as a check on the extent to which the prefectures were carrying out the directives issued by MacArthur’s headquarters or the orders from the central government.

<br />The really important duty of the so called Military government teams was, however, the supervision of the issue throughout Japan of the large quantities of food stuffs and medical stores being poured into the country from American sources. The teams also contained so-called experts on health, education, sanitation, agriculture and the like, to help the Japanese in adopting more up to date methods sponsored by SCAP’s headquarters. The normal duties of a military government organisation, the most important of which are law and order and a legal system, were never needed in Japan since the Japanese government’s normal legal system still functioned with regard to all Japanese nationals ... The so-called military government in Japan was therefore neither military nor government.}}

Legally, as had been case before the occupation, the cabinet posts were formally appointed by the Emperor and technically answerable directly to him, although in reality senior figures in the government such as the Prime Minister effectively served at the pleasure of the occupation authorities before the first post-war elections were held. Military posts, such as those of Army and Navy Minister, were left vacant and effectively abolished. The Japanese government's ''de facto'' authority was strictly limited especially in the intial months of the occupation.

Political parties had begun to revive almost immediately after the occupation began. Left-wing organizations, such as the [[Japan Socialist Party]] and the [[Japan Communist Party]], quickly reestablished themselves, as did various conservative parties. The old [[Seiyukai]] and [[Rikken Minseito]] came back as, respectively, the [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)|Liberal Party]] (Nihon Jiyuto) and the [[Japan Progressive Party]] (Nihon Shimpoto). The first postwar elections were held in 1946 (women were given the franchise for the first time), and the Liberal Party's vice president, [[Shigeru Yoshida]] (1878–1967), became [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister]]. For the 1947 elections, anti-Yoshida forces left the Liberal Party and joined forces with the Progressive Party to establish the new [[Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)|Japan Democratic Party]] (Minshuto). This divisiveness in conservative ranks gave a plurality to the Japan Socialist Party, which was allowed to form a [[Cabinet of Japan|cabinet]], which lasted less than a year. Thereafter, the socialist party steadily declined in its electoral successes. After a short period of Democratic Party administration, Yoshida returned in late 1948 and continued to serve as prime minister until 1954.