International Society in the Early Twentieth Century Asia-Pacific: Imperial Rivalries, International Organizations, and Experts by Hiroo Nakajima

Author:Hiroo Nakajima [Nakajima, Hiroo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000382419
Goodreads: 55894641
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

Here Reischauer was on safer ground since the United States did, in fact, reshape many parts of the Japanese political system, economy, and society in its seven-year occupation. But even here American influence was vastly overestimated. The prewar political parties and powerbrokers remained in place. The zaibatsu, the biggest industrial combines, were dismantled and then hurriedly reassembled. And the Japanese education system—American occupation authorities wanted to remake the school system by decentralizing at the municipal level in the American model—remains controlled from the center by conservative bureaucrats even today. Japan did become more democratic, and of course, the militarists were more or less taken out of power. The Japanese became a peace-loving people—but they might have done even this without an American occupation simply as a reaction against the militarists and the horrors of war.

Reviewers gushed over Reischauer’s second book. Douglas Haring called it “the book of the hour on Japan” in the Pacific Historical Review. 16 Hugh Borton, the founder of Japanese Studies at Columbia, argued it was “by far the most important interpretation of Japan written since the war.”17 Robert Scalapino, a former student of Reischauer’s at Harvard who became a renowned scholar at the University of California, called it “brilliant.” Later in 1965, Thomas R.H. Havens reviewed the third edition and described it as a “foreign policy classic.”18 None of the dozens of reviewers disputed Reischauer’s thesis of overwhelming American influence, and Scalapino described the argument matter-of-factly, as though it had always been and always would be that way.19

Other opportunities arose for Reischauer. Within academia, he served as president of the Association of Asian Studies in 1955, a recognition of his status as the premier historian of Japan in the United States. But he also expanded his contacts outside of the academy. With his expertise and solid service in World War II, he was tapped to serve as an informal State Department advisor on occasion. When John F. Kennedy became president in 1961, he wanted to upgrade government and place experts in important positions, choosing brain power over political back-scratching. So, Reischauer was offered the opportunity to serve as United States ambassador to Japan, usually a political position given to a campaign donor who knew little about the country.

Reischauer’s goal to strengthen ties between the United States and Japan was helped by Japan’s rapidly rising economy, booming trade with the United States and by the new Security Treaty signed in 1960 between the United States and Japan. The Security Treaty backed off from the previous arrangement whereby the American military held a chit against Japanese sovereignty, could interfere in Japan’s internal affairs, and remained on-call in case of riot or other civil disturbance. The Japanese public was outraged by this semi-colonial status, and anti-American feeling in Japan was strong. But the relationship seemed to be moving in the right direction towards full Japanese sovereignty and mutual understanding. The new treaty helped but did not eliminate the bad feelings. Reischauer had an opportunity to do further fence-mending. But

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