Rating: 
Summary: Colonial Apologist
Review: The Nobility of Failure by Ivan Morris, now conveniently out of print, is an elegant rebuttal to most of Dowers beliefs, which seem to be based on the premise that Japans culture was reassuringly American after all.
Rating: 
Summary: If you are interested in Japan, read this book
Review: The official reviews are right: this is a fabulous book about the American occupation of Japan. Dower's approach is thematic, not chronological, and he "slices through" the subject in many different ways, political, social, cultural, anecdotal. The pictures alone, starting with the cover photo of a Japanese village listening to the Emperor's surrender speech, are an education.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Review: the only flaw is that Dower brings up various radical writers and tells the reader how the writer's writings were. This book needs more, and longer, direct quotes (in trans. of course)[cf. Spence, The Gate of Heaveny Peace}.
Assertion is weak, but bald statement based on nothing is weaker still.
This is a rivetting read, but and it needs more to sustain historical mettle.
But ED blows 'Hirohito' and 'Fallen' out of the water--in terms of interest, readability, and information. These books are solid thesie, i.e., Hirohito is guilty, the A-bomb saved lives. Very true and well proven, but such does not make an interseting 500+ read. ED shows you things you never knew, and it upsets things you think you knew yet knew not.
It could be all wrong, but it shows a vacuum by its existence, and it will lead to more work.
Seminal.
Rating: 
Summary: keep those in-laws happy!
Review: The tone is set early when Dower insists on referring to Japanese people with their family name first and their given name second, as is the custom when writing and speaking IN JAPANESE. The first 100 or so pages describe the hardships endured by post-war Japanese. Dower then concentrates on the relations between the locals and the American Occupation forces, who are constantly referred to as "conquerors" and portrayed as conceited, racist rubes having their way with Japanese women whenever the urge comes over them. 20 pages are devoted to the armed forces use of prostitutes who, Dower suggests, were actually innocent patriots sacrificing their bodies so the barbarian Americans would not rape and pillage at will, as the Japanese armed forces did so thoroughly throughout Asia.Dower, with the acknowledged help of his Japanese wife, portrays post-war Japanese as downtrodden victims subjected to extreme hardships by uncaring Occupation forces: American aid to the Japanese people is fleetingly mentioned in a sentence or two as soldiers tossing some gum and chocolate bars to starving kids as the soldiers zipped by in their jeeps. Dower consistently uses this image of poor, starving Japanese and wealthy-beyond-comprehension Americans to propogate the standard Japanese line of thinking that they were powerless pawns of an overbearing conqueror. Whether that overbearing force is Japanese military zealots or foolish American Occupation forces, Dower never holds the Japanese people accountable for the problems within Japanese society. In regards to the war trials, Dower's anti-American sentiments burst forth. He holds the Allied efforts to a standard of 100% perfection developed after 50 years of post-war research and investigation. Dower disputes the moral authority of the Americans to even conduct the trials and actually suggests that the Japanese themselves were capable of prosecuting those responsible for the war atrocities despite the non-existent opposition to the war among the Japanese people. He calls the death sentences controversial and shockingly portrays Tojo and his ilk in a favorable light, saving his criticism for the Americans who failed to put the emperor on trial and belittling the credentials of the presiding judges. Predictably, Dower equates the use of the atomic bombs that ended the war to the massive rape and killing of civilians by the Japanese forces throughout Asia. He conveniently fails to mention the hundreds of thousands of lives saved - American, Japanese, and especially other Asians ruthlessly controlled by the Japanese - by ending the war in such a manner. For anyone seeking a factual account of the decision to use atomic weapons, read Downfall by Richard Frank. Dower's writing - and credibility - improves noticeably when he confines himself to commenting strictly on events and conflicts within Japanese society, without dragging in American influences. His excellent chapter on war crime remorse and the lack thereof concentrates solely on the Japanese people and the various thought processes within the post-war society as they attempted to explain the events leading up to the disaster of war. Dower's writing tactics seem geared more to appealing to his in-laws than in any objective assessment of the topic. The book reflects the current sentiment in Japan where no one accepts responsibility of the common person for the calamity of war and no one acknowledges the social problems that are just as severe today as they were 50 years ago. Self-criticism and introspection of Japanese society and its militaristic nature is desperately needed for both non-Japanese to understand the country and its people and especially for the Japanese themselves in order to change their society into one that can coexist with the world around them. Unfortunately accounts such as this continue the charade of Japanese people as innocent, powerless victims of overbearing forces, a view shared by most Japanese people and many so-called experts writing about Japan. 3 stars for subject matter. 1 star for slanted wtiting style.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Detailing of the Flaws of the Occupation Era
Review: This book gives quite a lot of information concerning the motives of both MacArthur's post-war occupation and of the Japanese government as well as the thoughts and condition of the Japanese populace. Dower provides a very convincing argument the the Emperor was excused from prosecution as a war criminal, and explains why the U.S. helped cover up his probable guilt. His book is one of the first popular book which addresses crimes committed by some of the occupation forces. There is a wealth of information in this book which should interest any serious student of modern Japanese history. It is not likely to be of a lot of interest to those without an interest in the post-war Japan.
Rating:
Summary: Unbiased history for those with an open mind
Review: This book is an important and valid addition to the WWII genre. There are countless volumes on the war in the "Pacific Theatre", but considerably few on the impact of defeat that has essentially made Japan into what it is today, and this book is as good as any to begin that journey.I feel that some reviewers have been rather unfair about Dower's supposed bias, due in no small part to his having a Japanese-descent wife. However, in my opinion you would have to miss a major portion of this book in order to come to that conclusion. Dower, at no point in time, made ANY excuses for Japanese agression and the atrocities committed towards POWs and the civilians in their occupied lands. In fact, he laments again and again about how the Japanese eventually came to very conveniently remember their war-dead without actually remembering their crimes as well. He also clearly feels that the late Emperor Hirohito got "off the hook" way too easily, and should've borne a substantial portion of the responsibility for Japan's actions throughout the war. What some readers are uncomfortable with, I believe, is the fact that Dower has very meticulously analyzed the period of occupation by the Allies (more specifically, the Americans) following Japan's surrender. There are some of us who believe so strongly in the fallacy that the Allies could do no wrong that we simply do not want to confront the victors' hypocrisies and inconsistencies when they're pointed out to us. That is a dangerous and myopic viewpoint. Six decades after WWII, I would have hoped that modern readers would be enlightened enough to be able to discuss topics like that without being entirely driven by the "us versus them" mentality. In times of peacetime minimal propoganda, we should be able to thank Dower for bringing this important topic to light without screaming that he is "on the side of the Japs". He certainly is not. What some readers are uncomfortable with is that Dower is simply not on ANYONE'S side, per se, but was presenting us with a thorough and objective look at the Allied Occupation; its ups and downs, the subsequent Japanese reactions, and the impact their policies have made in shaping modern Japan. In fact, before I started this book, I too thought that it was going to be disappointingly biased towards the Japanese (based on some of the reviews I had read), but it turned out not to be the case at all. I commend John Dower for his far-sighted objectivity and unwavering committment to presenting a well-researched, highly readable and important work.
Rating:
Summary: Solid treatment of a critical historical period
Review: This book is essential reading for those interested in the history of Japan as well as for those with an interest in how Japanese society came to be what it is today. While I am not qualified to comment on its historical scholarship, it certainly seemed very solid to me - the author's documentation is thorough and impressive and his treatment is painstaking and precise. It certainly rings true. However, my sense was that the book started off as an excellent read and then began to drag somewhere after the first 200 pages. While I have no doubt that the latter half of the book is as accurate and important a history as the first half, it seemed to make for less compelling reading. The first third or so of the book concentrated primarily on the societal impact of the Japanese surrender and its immediate aftermath - and I found it absolutely fascinating. The latter portions of the book dealt more with political issues, including a very thorough treatment of how the occupying forces (i.e. the US under MacArthur) drafted and pushed through the new Japanese Constitution. Very interesting, but in my opinion not as compelling as the early material in the book. In summary, if you are interested in the history of Japan and/or World War II this book has to be on your reading list. A very impressive piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Social History of the Occupation of Japan
Review: This fine book is a thematic exploration of the experience and consequences of the American occupation of Japan. Dower is concerned with understanding how Japanese society, at all levels, experienced the occupation, how the Americans perceived Japan and the reasons for specific American actions, and how the occupation set the stage for the subsequent development of Japanese society. Readers should be aware that this is not a conventional narrative history. Rather, Dower moves through the occupation discussing issues thematically. The best way to get the maximum benefit of reading this book is to review the relevant narrative history in a overview text of modern Japanese history. Both James McClain's and Marius Jansen's recently published books provide concise and illuminating narratives about this period.
Dower begins by discussing the aftermath of the war and the expectations of the victors. It is clear that from the outset, the American occupation would be based on a paradox. The Americans wished to construct a democratic society but also wished to impose, without discussion, their views of how to conduct democracy. The Americans also made the decision, different from the initial occupation in Germany, to govern indirectly through the existing Japanese state. This was convenient in the short run but reinforced the importance of the central bureaucracy, which had already become increasingly important during the pressures of managing a wartime economy. Many of the Americans, notably MacArthur, his principal subordinates, and many of the important figures in Washington, viewed Japan as an 'Oriental' state populated largely by slavish subjects and needing paternalistic guidance. This was true even for experienced officials with considerable experience in pre-war Japan. In fact, virtually all of the important changes imposed in the early years of the occupation were embraced by the Japanese. Land reform, a new legal code granting women greater rights, functioning labor unions, the destruction of paternalistic rights, guaranteed civil rights, and a reformed electoral system, were imposed by the Americans but implemented enthusiastically by Japanese. Large segments of Japanese society had chafed under the authoritarianism of the preceding decades and found the new system liberating. Even the new constitution, written quickly by a group of idealistic, younger Americans, was embraced by the Japanese. During the initial years of the occupation, the Japanese ceased to be Imperial subjects and became citizens.
The effects of the American occupation were, however, mixed. Particularly after the outbreak of the Korean War and the hardening of antagonism with the Soviet Union, the Americans became increasingly concerned about leftist movements. American censorship and pressures against what were perceived as threatening movements were often harsh and irrational. The Americans preferred governing through conservative politicians and the powerful central bureaucracy. The Americans often utilized informal censorship and informal control of objectionable movements. This style of government encouraged conservative conformity and would have lasting impact. Other American actions had long term negative consequences. The American decision to proceed with a relatively small number of show trials about war crimes contributed to Japanese reluctance to face the aggressive and often criminal activities of the pre-war and wartime Japanese state. The often farcial efforts of the Americans and conservative politicians to shield the Emperor from criticism contributed to this problem.
Dower also has a very interesting section on the effect of the occupation on the Japanese economy. The relatively centralized direction of the Japanese economy is often stated to be a distinctive feature of Japanese culture. Dower shows that this system is a relatively recent phenomenon with strong roots in efforts to centralize direction of the wartime economy. During the occupation, American actions would wittingly and unwittingly reinforce these centralizing tendencies. In addition, many prominent Japanese economists and planners, quite a few of whom had been purged from Universities and public life during the war, were leftists sympathetic to central direction. The new found, and American instigated, freedoms of the post-war period allowed these individuals to re-enter public life.
An additional attractive feature is the presence of a number of revealing photographs. See page 55 for a devastating image of the consequences of failed Japanese imperialism.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is a fantastic, well written, and exciting work of non-fiction, fully deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. I was attracted to the book originally because my father was involved in the Japanese war crimes trials. But my expectations were far exceeded by what I believe to be one of the finest books I have ever read. Do yourself a favor.
I read the book in 2000, before the Iraq War, but think about it often lately. While the occupation of Japan was far different in many ways from the mess in Iraq, it is highly poignant to compare the differences between the two. Dower's book forces a comparison between two occupations, with dreary conclusions to be made about Iraq. It is tempting to imagine the generation of our fathers and grandfathers being allowed to rebuild Iraq in the same way Japan was rebuilt into the economic giant it is today.
Rating:
Summary: interesting, but could have used more context
Review: This is a really interesting book, discussing how the Japanese handled the 5 - 10 years after WWII. And it has a ton of information in it, both big picture as well as a lot of detail.
The one thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that it does not do a good job of placing what is described in the bigger picture of Japan at that time or of the allies. It's as though McArthur and the allied occupation is there, and at times has a (sometimes very strong) influence. But the rest of the time - nothing about them. And yet, they were the most significant single force for change in the culture.
The same for the overall political climate in Japan. The emperor appears occasionally as do the top politicians. And the mood of the citizens is covered at times. But a lot of the time what is happening is listed as though it occurs in a vaccuum.
With all that said - it's a real good book on a topic that is interesting.
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