Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

Rating:
Summary: Simply Fantastic
Review: Easily one of the best books I have read on this subject. It is even-handed and surprising in its revelations. It truly made me wonder what would have happened to us had WE lost the Pacific War.
It is crammed full of information and told in a very even, steady manner. It covers a very broad series of topics concerning racism, popular culture, the black markets, government policies pre and post occupation without losing any momentum or intent. We all know about Pearl Harbor and the battles across the atolls, but what happened after the capitulation?
A definite must read.

Rating:
Summary: The best years of our lives from the other side of the ocean
Review: "Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II" has been filling my all to few idle moments. The first 250 pages were compelling and overwhelming. In one book is revealed the Japan Sakai Saburo returned to and the depth of detail possible only in printed format. This book can be enjoyed for both its subject and the exquisite detail in which John Dower renders the portrait of post war Japan. Actually its a motion picture as he covers the full period of the occupation. The perspective is (so far) is purely Japanese and man in the street Japanese at that. This is social history done like it should be, must be if it is to be at all useful and enlightening.

No long discourses on the role of the occupation authorities, but lots of interesting revelations on how the Japanese decipher and responded to the demands and requirements of the victors. That aspect of Japanese character that seems to want to take its lead from outside cultures, almost a mimicry, is explored in the adoption of democracy from above and yet it's given the curiously Japanese twists that align the new with old traditions.

The failure to understand the amount of suffering is explored as well. Well that's not completely right. Apparently much of Japanese society understood the horrible things their army and navy did. Yet this understanding lacks an outlet in a culture without a tradition of helping others especially strangers. Submerged in a sense of their own victim hood they failed to respond to the pasts aggressions and are still marked by that today.

The Level of detail is at times too much, almost Lundstromesque. There is a lot to be learned about this culture in this book - literature, economics (black and otherwise), sociology, radio, culture in turmoil that ties the future to some parts of the past, even race relations it's all in here. If there is a blueprint for how the world would react to a benign alien occupation this is it.

Some of the points are developed very subtly. The failure (in western eyes) to respond positively to the suffering they caused in other countries and the development of their own victim hood is built up slowly over several sections. It may be treated more forcefuly in a chapter not yet read. The biggest disappointment is the next to last "What do you tell the dead when you lose?" but to be frank I'm not sure why. Perhaps I've hoped for one chapter that would delve into a detailed Japanese reconstruction of what went wrong with the war. Maybe they just never did that?

What I find myself longing for now is a companion volume that will bridge the gap from the Japan of 1950 to the Japan of today. That society has undergone some considerable change (more slowly this time) since the end of the occupation, it's dangerous to extrapolate from the end of this amazing book.

Ben Schapiro

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Social History
Review: "Embracing Defeat" is a fascinating and well written social history of the American occupation of Japan. It primarily concentrates on the cultural reconstruction of a defeated population, the Japanese reaction to "revolution from above" while simultaneously coming to terms with their nation's wartime responsibility. The relationship between the occupiers and Hirohito is given particular scrutiny.

Like many popular history books, the author relies primarily on writers and major political figures as sources of record. While the Japanese bureaucracy is frequently alluded to, relatively little is said about how it was able to adapt and recover under occupation. Similarly, there are very few details about the physical reconstruction of a nation of devastated cities. After reading of the enormity of the destruction and the massive homelessness which resulted, I wondered how one could organize such an immense rebuilding task -- particular given the national mood of resignation which is explained in excellent detail. Unfortunately I'm still wondering.

Finally, the politics of the book lean a bit leftward. It is by no means a polemic, but if that sort of thing gets you hot and bothered you might want to skip the chapter concerning the communist party.


Rating:
Summary: Revealing the facade
Review: "Embracing Defeat" is a well researched book which shows how both Japan and the U.S bureaucracy had compromised their policy after the war for the forthcoming red scare. I believe "Embracing Defeat" has a significant meaning especially for the present Japan because the current resurgence of the nationalistic policy of the government and usual shenanigan of the LDP i.e.,Japan show that Japan (LDP) is not ready to confront the ghost of the war and its aftermath at all. As a native Japanese, a chapter of the constitution is very interesting. What do you think if your contry's constitution is written by a few Americans in two weeks and it maintains a pure democratic notion (except the tennou Emperor charter) which contradicts to what the U.S foreign policy had done in Asia after the war? Every American should read the Japanese constitution to study so-called "democracy". Sure, every country has a shadow which is a very inconvenient material for president's or prime minister's speech writer, but it is not a bad thing to see ourselves by tracing each other's dark shadow. Right on, Dower!

Rating:
Summary: A vivid portrait of postwar Japan
Review: "Embracing Defeat", begins on August 15,1945. On that day came the most momentous hour in Japanese history. For the first time ever, the Emperor spoke directly to the Japanese people by radio and announced that the war was over. Emperor Hirohito did not use the Japanese words for surrender and defeat in his address to the people; but his meaning was clear. Japan would have to endure the unendurable, and accept defeat. In many accounts of that time in history the Japanese are shadowy figures that lack depth or clarity of understanding. In this book the Japanese emerge from the ashes of defeat, and their story is vividly told. John Dower writes about the actions of great historical figures like General Macarthur and Emperor Hirohito, and also about the lives of ordinary people from all segments of Japanese society. After the war the Japanese faced the specter of hunger, exhaustion, and despair; and the devastation of most of their major cities. Millions of lives had been lost in the war, and the fate of vast numbers of Japanese citizens was unknown. The Japanese had to face that hard reality, and their own responsibility in the creation of so much suffering and death. The question of war guilt and the role of the Emperor is closely examined in the book. There are many fascinating personal accounts in this book, and the story of the writing of a new Constitution for Japan is an engrossing one. Above all, this book is the story of the combined American and Japanese efforts to build a nation of peace from the shattering horror of total war. I highly recommend this very interesting and enlightening book.

Rating:
Summary: The best years of our lives from the other side of the ocean
Review: "Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II" has been filling my all to few idle moments. The first 250 pages were compelling and overwhelming. In one book is revealed the Japan Sakai Saburo returned to and the depth of detail possible only in printed format. This book can be enjoyed for both its subject and the exquisite detail in which John Dower renders the portrait of post war Japan. Actually its a motion picture as he covers the full period of the occupation. The perspective is (so far) is purely Japanese and man in the street Japanese at that. This is social history done like it should be, must be if it is to be at all useful and enlightening.

No long discourses on the role of the occupation authorities, but lots of interesting revelations on how the Japanese decipher and responded to the demands and requirements of the victors. That aspect of Japanese character that seems to want to take its lead from outside cultures, almost a mimicry, is explored in the adoption of democracy from above and yet it's given the curiously Japanese twists that align the new with old traditions.

The failure to understand the amount of suffering is explored as well. Well that's not completely right. Apparently much of Japanese society understood the horrible things their army and navy did. Yet this understanding lacks an outlet in a culture without a tradition of helping others especially strangers. Submerged in a sense of their own victim hood they failed to respond to the pasts aggressions and are still marked by that today.

The Level of detail is at times too much, almost Lundstromesque. There is a lot to be learned about this culture in this book - literature, economics (black and otherwise), sociology, radio, culture in turmoil that ties the future to some parts of the past, even race relations it's all in here. If there is a blueprint for how the world would react to a benign alien occupation this is it.

Some of the points are developed very subtly. The failure (in western eyes) to respond positively to the suffering they caused in other countries and the development of their own victim hood is built up slowly over several sections. It may be treated more forcefuly in a chapter not yet read. The biggest disappointment is the next to last "What do you tell the dead when you lose?" but to be frank I'm not sure why. Perhaps I've hoped for one chapter that would delve into a detailed Japanese reconstruction of what went wrong with the war. Maybe they just never did that?

What I find myself longing for now is a companion volume that will bridge the gap from the Japan of 1950 to the Japan of today. That society has undergone some considerable change (more slowly this time) since the end of the occupation, it's dangerous to extrapolate from the end of this amazing book.

Ben Schapiro

Rating:
Summary: Democracy from Above and other histories
Review: 'Embracing Defeat' is a Pulitzer price winning portrait of Japanese society after the defeat in WW2. It is a wide ranging survey, which, despite some guiding themes, often feels more like a collection of essays than a unified work.

There are, I think, several questions of great interest to the contemporary reader about Japan. One would probably be most interested in learning about how Japan dealt with the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; how Japan turned from a racist, imperialist country into a democratic and pacifistic one; and how Japan not only recovered from the economic devastation of the war, but finally became one of the world's leading powers.

Strangely, Professor Dower seem to give peripheral attention at best to the first and third question, and pays most attention to the second, as well as to minuet study of the interactions between the US occupation force and the Japanese population. He also focuses mostly on the early years of the occupation, up to 1949 or so, as if a chapter or two on the outbreak of the cold war were planned but later discarded.

Much of the book is 'social history' - a depiction not so much of the leading characters and figures, but of sociological and economic trends. All too often, Dower fall into the trap of this kind of writing - describing things that, for any observer with the slightest knowledge of the society, would be patently obvious. Who could fail to anticipate poverty and corruption in a country devastated by war? Given the existence of rationing, every one who ever took any economic course can predict the appearance of a black market. And obviously, a country that lost millions of its young population in war would pay more attention to its own casualties than to those of the former enemies.

One of the great advantages of social history is that it lends itself to quantitative, statistical analysis. Surprisingly, Dower hardly ever mentions public polls, and rarely attempts to quantify his observations about opinions as expressed in media articles. His use of economic statistics is only somewhat better. There is an old historian's maxim which goes "don't guess, try to count, and if you can't count, admit that you're guessing". Unfortunately, Dower fails to conform. I think that his analysis is robbed of much of its power because of this.

The central theme of the book is the paradoxes of 'Democracy from Above' - the US enforced an authoritarian rule to make people free. It is' of course an interesting paradox, but Dower's exploration of it is only as good as the specific topics in which he engages.

By far the best part of the book deals with American 'wedge strategy', the attempt to distinguish between the Emperor and the military government headed by Tojo. Most of part 4, dealing with the wedge strategy and the formation of the Japanese constitution are nothing short of breathtaking, as they explore the intrigue and politics of occupied Japan, and of Japan vis a vis the United States and the world. The image of McArthur, strangely aloof from Japanese culture, and yet also admired and dedicated for change, is an intriguing and well realized one.

Also interesting is Dower's report on (and especially criticism of) the War Crime trials. Although I was left unconvinced that the Japanese would have done a better job judging the war criminals themselves, it is a powerful demonstration of the great problematic nature of international law, which is in essence, as Dower calls it, Victor's Justice.

Ultimately, though, it is hard to see a clear plan in the book, and Dower's afterward, in which he attempts to pull everything together, feels shallow (but interesting). In it he for the first time engages fully the economic leap forward Japan took in the 1960s. Dower argues that the key to Japan's industrialization lies in the '15 years war', starting with the commencement of hostilities with China in 1931. Japan in the second half of the twentieth century, having renounced its militarism, came to excel in the other field open to it - economics.

For people who, like me, are trying to understand how Japan became the leading economic power it is today and how other countries could learn from its example. Dower's book supplies no answer. Its failures of narrative prevent it, in my opinion, from reaching the status of a classic. Yet for all its faults, Embracing Defeat is an interesting, informative and readable study of Japan after the war.

Rating:
Summary: Democracy from Above and other histories
Review: 'Embracing Defeat' is a Pulitzer price winning portrait of Japanese society after the defeat in WW2. It is a wide ranging survey, which, despite some guiding themes, often feels more like a collection of essays than a unified work.

There are, I think, several questions of great interest to the contemporary reader about Japan. One would probably be most interested in learning about how Japan dealt with the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; how Japan turned from a racist, imperialist country into a democratic and pacifistic one; and how Japan not only recovered from the economic devastation of the war, but finally became one of the world's leading powers.

Strangely, Professor Dower seem to give peripheral attention at best to the first and third question, and pays most attention to the second, as well as to minuet study of the interactions between the US occupation force and the Japanese population. He also focuses mostly on the early years of the occupation, up to 1949 or so, as if a chapter or two on the outbreak of the cold war were planned but later discarded.

Much of the book is 'social history' - a depiction not so much of the leading characters and figures, but of sociological and economic trends. All too often, Dower fall into the trap of this kind of writing - describing things that, for any observer with the slightest knowledge of the society, would be patently obvious. Who could fail to anticipate poverty and corruption in a country devastated by war? Given the existence of rationing, every one who ever took any economic course can predict the appearance of a black market. And obviously, a country that lost millions of its young population in war would pay more attention to its own casualties than to those of the former enemies.

One of the great advantages of social history is that it lends itself to quantitative, statistical analysis. Surprisingly, Dower hardly ever mentions public polls, and rarely attempts to quantify his observations about opinions as expressed in media articles. His use of economic statistics is only somewhat better. There is an old historian's maxim which goes "don't guess, try to count, and if you can't count, admit that you're guessing". Unfortunately, Dower fails to conform. I think that his analysis is robbed of much of its power because of this.

The central theme of the book is the paradoxes of 'Democracy from Above' - the US enforced an authoritarian rule to make people free. It is' of course an interesting paradox, but Dower's exploration of it is only as good as the specific topics in which he engages.

By far the best part of the book deals with American 'wedge strategy', the attempt to distinguish between the Emperor and the military government headed by Tojo. Most of part 4, dealing with the wedge strategy and the formation of the Japanese constitution are nothing short of breathtaking, as they explore the intrigue and politics of occupied Japan, and of Japan vis a vis the United States and the world. The image of McArthur, strangely aloof from Japanese culture, and yet also admired and dedicated for change, is an intriguing and well realized one.

Also interesting is Dower's report on (and especially criticism of) the War Crime trials. Although I was left unconvinced that the Japanese would have done a better job judging the war criminals themselves, it is a powerful demonstration of the great problematic nature of international law, which is in essence, as Dower calls it, Victor's Justice.

Ultimately, though, it is hard to see a clear plan in the book, and Dower's afterward, in which he attempts to pull everything together, feels shallow (but interesting). In it he for the first time engages fully the economic leap forward Japan took in the 1960s. Dower argues that the key to Japan's industrialization lies in the '15 years war', starting with the commencement of hostilities with China in 1931. Japan in the second half of the twentieth century, having renounced its militarism, came to excel in the other field open to it - economics.

For people who, like me, are trying to understand how Japan became the leading economic power it is today and how other countries could learn from its example. Dower's book supplies no answer. Its failures of narrative prevent it, in my opinion, from reaching the status of a classic. Yet for all its faults, Embracing Defeat is an interesting, informative and readable study of Japan after the war.

Rating:
Summary: Illuminating Yet Imperfect
Review: .... Japan eagerly turned their backs on the failed militarism of the 1931-1945 epoch and gladly accepted the New Deal democratic values of the American bureaucracy and military which would rule them until 1952. ... General MacArthur prevented the more radical elements of Japanese society from running the new, democratic Japan. It was to be an ordered democracy, with a retained emperor who would symbolize the new, democratic, peaceful Japanese nation. American New Dealers would win some reforms- rural land reform, the encouragement of strong unions, the abolishment of the aristocratic upper house of the Japanese legislature, the severe curtailment of large industrial combines. Yet essentially conservative Japanese politicians would run the reformed Japan, as prodded along by General MacArthur. Professor Dower's portrayal of post-surrender Japan is ordered in an odd way. Japan's economic revival is not really discussed until book's end yet this aspect of post-war Japan is most relevant to most of the world outside Japan. Much of the book discusses the explosion of Japanese newspapers, magazines, books and other periodicals in the post-war era. The struggle for day-to-day survival is documented mostly by several interesting personal glimpses into the lives of average Japanese. Fascinating to the American mind is how wretchedly Japanese veterans were treated by the populace at large when they returned home in the late forties. In America's Civil War, southern soldiers were treated as heroes by their fellow southerners. In contrast, Japanese veterans were treated as shamed losers. Also interesting is the pragmatic way in which the Japanese government recruited prostitutes and other women to service the American troops just prior to American occupation. One last final fascinating note is how little interaction Douglas MacArthur had with the Japanese nation and people. Douglas MacArthur essentially ruled Japan from September, 1945 until the Korean War began in the summer of 1950 yet never really felt a need to know the Japanese people. Such detachment is mind-boggling.

Rating:
Summary: This book came out 4 years too early...
Review: ...were it to be modified to contrast the policies and efforts of the US in its occupation and democratization of Japan between 1945 and '52 against the present attempts to do the same in Iraq...forget about the colossal increase in sales, such a book would serve as an awesome instrument of guidance, and perhaps even temper some unreasonable criticism being leveled against the occupation as "unprecedented".

And while there are clear and material differences between the basic environments and nature of the occupations, there are some striking lessons learned in the 7 year slog led by McCarthur, and promoted by "radical-idealogues" in the US gov't who maintained a belief Japan could sever its centuries old embrace of Imperialism in favor of Capitalism and Democracy(despite material dissent among many in the War Department and Congress who scoffed at the notion that the Allies, as conquerors, could democratize such a ravaged nation of Imperialist subservients).

The most interesting takeaway for me was the ingenious use of Hirohito as a proxy to the "hearts and minds" of the Japanese people. The US wisely leveraged the extraordinary (cult-like) capital in servitude that the Emperor had built up in the war ravaged empire. Using what was dubbed the "Wedge Strategy" the US seperated the Emperor from the rest of the Japanese Imperial Government, attributing blame for all the evils of the empire that caused devastation and failure to "the Government that betrayed the Emperor, and the people of Japan". The US then proceeded to use the Emperor as a proxy to the public; asserting his preserved authority to conform the Japanese to the basic charter of the Potsdam Declaration and, more significantly, to McCarther (as "Supreme Commander"; jeez, that was actually his title, imagine if Bremer was assigned such a title, times have certainly changed).

From a detailed accounting of the extraordinary devastation to Japan (their economy, their population, their identities), through the mechanics of the occupation, the writing of a constitution (both literally and philosophically) and through the final stages of engineering, this book (at over 500 pages) is chock full of fascinating understandings of one of the greatest undertakings in history; the reconstitution and habilitation of a defeated nation by the nation that defeated it.

This is a fascinating read that is well organized. That it's well organized is worth noting, for as long a read as it is, the casual reader can (from the Table of Contents) skip around the book, read certain chapters of interest, and never feel lost.

I hope this was helpful.