MacArthur in Asia: The General and His Staff in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea

Preface and Acknowledgments

Preface and Acknowledgments The enduring mythology around the figure of Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) has been sustained in both the United States and Japan. Even a half century after his death, interest in and enthusiasm for MacArthur continue to grow. More than seventy books on MacArthur have appeared in the United States. In contrast , Japanese scholars have written only a few academic studies of MacArthur, although many translations of foreign studies as well as magazine articles have been published. Sodei Rinjiro’s Makkasah’s Nisennichi (MacArthur’s 2,000 Days), published in 1974, was the first major Japanese study of MacArthur. This book follows Sodei’s, nearly forty years later. American and Japanese accounts of MacArthur differ in their interests and focus. U.S. studies of MacArthur usually cover the eighty-four years of his life, including his relationship with his family, World War I, his period of service as Army chief of staff, his time as the military advisor in the Philippines, the war between the United States and Japan, the occupation of Japan, and his dismissal during the Korean War. They tend to treat MacArthur’s activities in each period evenly and in detail. In brief, the intellectual interest in and the evaluation of MacArthur in his homeland focus not only on his distinguished talent for strategy and extraordinary courage as a commander in dangerous battlefields, but also on his distinguished leadership as a peacetime administrator. He has won respect and credibility as one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, who led his nation to a glorious victory. By contrast, Japanese analysts are likely to concentrate on the five-and-ahalf years of the Allied Occupation, the two thousand days when MacArthur administered Japan as the supreme commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). MacArthur’s dignity and authority surpassed those of Showa Emperor Hirohito, and his godlike presence at the peak of General Headquarters (GHQ) awed the Japanese people into silence. As supreme commander MacArthur carried out large-scale and essentially experimental reforms based on the Potsdam Declaration in order to rehabilitate Japan, transforming it from a military state into a democratic and peaceful nation. These reforms covered the Japanese legal system , politics, military affairs, the economy, social affairs, and the educational system,and included specific measures such as the drafting of a new constitution, the dismantling of the Zaibatsu, land reforms, public purges, the organization of labor unions, and the introduction of women’s suffrage. Since so many elements vii viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS of modern Japanese identity originate in the Occupation era, it is undeniable that MacArthur made hugely significant contributions as an administrator. It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption that the Japanese Occupation would have been completely different had the supreme commander not been MacArthur. It can be safely said that the occupation of Japan was a MacArthur occupation. The differences in intellectual concerns between U.S. and Japanese accounts of MacArthur reflect the differences in historical experience between the two nations. Two characteristics of this book should be noted. The first is that it begins not with the occupation of Japan, which is the focus for most Japanese studies , but with MacArthur’s service in the Philippines, starting in 1935, ten years prior to the Japanese defeat. The reason for beginning in the Philippines is that MacArthur’s experience there constitutes the origins of the Occupation policies he adopted in Japan. Using this longer perspective, the book clarifies parts of the Japanese Occupation that have not been fully explored in previous studies of MacArthur in Japan. MacArthur had long and close ties with the Philippines, and he developed a deep affection for the Philippine people. Because his father had served as commander of the army of the Philippines in the early twentieth century, MacArthur chose the Philippines for his initial service (as a second lieutenant) after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Following World War I, he was sent to the Philippines as commander of the Philippine army (at the rank of colonel). From the late 1920s through the early 1930s, he served as field marshal of the Philippine army (as a major general) and U.S. Army chief of staff (as a general), and after retirement in 1935, at the request of President Emanuel L. Quezon he was named military advisor for the organization of the Philippine army. Until his retreat from the Philippines, in March 1942, MacArthur spent more than thirteen years in the Philippines...