Deck 13: Occupied Japan: New Departures and Durable Structures

Question 1

How did most Japanese people learn of their country's surrender?

A) Extra editions of the major newspapers
B) Pamphlets dropped from US bombers
C) A radio broadcast by Emperor Hirohito
D) The arrival of occupying US troops in their villages.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What were 'blue-sky' markets?

A) Markets run by Taiwanese immigrants selling surplus US Army material
B) Black markets usually controlled by gangsters
C) Early postwar stock markets
D) Brothels at hot spring resorts organized for the occupying forces

Answer 2

B

Question 3

From which area were Japanese NOT repatriated back to Japan after World War II?

A) Korea
B) Manchuria and the Soviet Union
C) Taiwan
D) The United States

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT an objective of the Occupation government?

A) Breaking up monopolies
B) Promoting political democracy
C) Dissolving the monarchy
D) Disbanding the military

Question 5

SCAP _____ the official relationship between the Japanese state and Shinto?

A) Eliminated
B) Strengthened
C) Ignored
D) Reformed

Question 6

Which group of people did the Occupation government begin releasing from jail in October 1945?

A) Prisoners of War
B) Korean independence leaders
C) Christians
D) Communists

Question 7

In which of the following areas of reform did Douglas MacArthur take a strong personal interest?

A) Spreading Christianity
B) Empowering women
C) Creating a social safety net
D) Promoting pacifism.

Question 8

What was Douglas MacArthur's attitude towards the emperor?

A) He argued for his abdication and replacement
B) He argued the position should be abolished
C) He argued Hirohito should stay on in his position
D) He was happy to pursue whatever policy was set by Washington

Question 9

Why was there a 'forest emergency' in postwar Japan?

A) Because American defoliants had destroyed much of Japan's forest
B) Because wartime usage had stripped many of Japan's forests bare
C) Because ordinary people were chopping down large quantities of trees for home heating
D) Because a blight had caused the death of over 80% of Japan's trees.

Question 10

Which pre-war political party was the Progressive Party descended from?

A) The Seiyūkai
B) The Clean Government Party (Kōmeitō)
C) The Liberal Party (Jiyūtō)
D) The Minseitō

Question 11

Who was the Prime Minister chosen as a result of the first postwar election?

A) Katayama Tetsu
B) Yoshida Shigeru
C) Ikeda Hayato
D) Douglas MacArthur

Question 12

Katayama Tetsu's premiership was ultimately undone by...

A) SCAP unhappiness with a socialist prime minister's policies
B) Unhappiness within his party over a compromise plan to nationalize the coal industry
C) An election defeat
D) A personal scandal

Question 13

Which of the following global events did NOT contribute to the US 'reverse course' in the late 1940s?

A) The high cost of the initial occupation policies
B) The onset of the Cold War in Europe
C) The successes of the Chinese Communist Party
D) The influence of communists in Japanese labor unions

Question 14

Why did SCAP encourage the Japanese to create a national police force from 1950?

A) To provide employment for demobilized troops
B) To crush the Japanese left
C) To assert control over Japan's peripheries
D) To free up US soldiers for deployment to Korea

Question 15

Why did the Japanese focus on re-launching its Antarctic whaling fleet in the postwar period?

A) As a means of stealth re-armament
B) As a way to assert its sovereignty
C) As a way of providing citizens with protein
D) As a way of controlling whale populations

Question 16

What impact did the Korean War have on the Japanese economy?

A) It generated demand for Japanese goods by the UN forces in Korea
B) It drained American investment from Japan to fund the war
C) It destroyed Japan's remaining factories in Korea
D) It caused hyperinflation

Question 17

The Occupation of Japan official ended in..?

A) December 1949
B) June 1950
C) April 1952
D) March 1954

Question 18

What did the Soviet Union gain in the Treaty of San Francisco?

A) Nothing; they walked out of the negotiations
B) Several islands north of Japan
C) A non-aggression treaty
D) Reparations equivalent to 80 billion US dollars

Question 19

Yoshida Shigeru supported the US-Japan Security Treaty because he...

A) Believed that Japan would imminently face Chinese invasion
B) Wanted to continue to capitalize on US military expenditures in Japan
C) Was ideologically committed to a US-centred world order
D) Believed being a junior ally to the US was the only viable option8

Question 20

Which of the following Occupation reforms did NOT survive into the 1970s?

A) The "no war" article of the constitution
B) The breakup of the zaibatsu
C) The political empowerment of women
D) Land reform