Files and links (1)
CC BY-NC-SA V4.0, Open Access
Thesis
MACARTHUR’S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN: THE ALLIED OCCUPATION OF JAPAN AND THE BURAKUMIN
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
05/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006977
Abstract
The Allied Occupation of Japan was a largely American endeavor aimed at rebuilding Japan into what Americans viewed as a better state, one devoid of perceived evils like feudalism. Many have gone as far as to suggest that the constitution written with American oversight represented a more liberal mindset towards many issues than was common in the United States domestically. The occupation is lauded for its success, a fair assessment seeing as it achieved many goals, if only to lesser degrees than initially anticipated. One place that it fell woefully short, however, was in addressing the so called buraku issue. Burakumin, Japan’s largest minority group, were largely ignored or undercut by the occupation in any direct interaction, a testament to American shortcomings. Even so, the occupation presented opportunities to all of the Japanese public, as a result even this often-shunned minority found a moment in the sun, though perhaps they only got a sliver compared to much of the Japanese population. For burakumin a perpetual state of the oppressed other was the norm from the creation of their class. Even though the occupation rarely positively engaged the group directly the great democratizing tidal wave caught them too. On top of this story being missed in both praising and criticizing narratives on the occupation, this period has gone woefully underexplored in burakumin historical narratives. I find that this moment is a pivotal moment in which transwar trends culminate into the creation of a new golden age of burakumin activism which continues to define the people until this day. It is a story often missed that is worth telling.
Metrics
5 File views/ downloads
19 Record Views
Details
- Title
- MACARTHUR’S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN
- Creators
- Timothy Bradford Varney
- Contributors
- W. Puck Brecher (Chair)Noriko Kawamura (Committee Member)Xiuyu Wang (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of History
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 122
- Identifiers
- 99901125240701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis