4 - “The children”: Japan (1945–1974)

Summary

First there was silence, then sobs of grief. The humiliation was almost too much to bear. Once again Japanese manhood had been put to the test against superior Western force, and once again it had been found wanting. But then an extraordinary thing happened. Moments after his victory, Dutch fans tried to rush to the mat to congratulate their hero. Immediately, however, Geesink raised his hand to stop them and turned to Kaminaga to make his bow. The Japanese audience rose to applaud this traditional gesture of respect. And they never forgot it. Geesink, the big Dutch victor in Tokyo who had shown the Japanese what skill as well as bulk could achieve, would be treated as a hero in Japan forever after.

Ian Buruma, Inventing Japan

Introduction

Japan has been a pacifist country and a reliable ally of the West for more than half a century. Today, most casual observers take this situation for granted, and generally assume that Japan's defeat and subsequent occupation by the United States left the country with virtually no other option. It is true that Japan had limited options – the country was officially occupied for seven years and, later, Cold War dynamics narrowed Japan's room for maneuver. However, a careful look at Japan in the decades after the crushing defeat of 1945 reveals a country that not only made some unexpected choices and stuck to them, but also a state that was as preoccupied with its international stature as it had been before the war.