Would General MacArthur Support Modern Japan’s March Back Toward Militarization?

Would General MacArthur Support Modern Japan’s March Back Toward Militarization?

General Douglas MacArthur signs Japanese surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri.


By Jeremiah Jacques • June 23

Listen to the June 23, 2017 edition of the Trumpet Daily Radio Show.

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Before and during World War II, Japan’s military carried out some of the worst brutality in mankind’s history. The wartime ruthlessness and fanaticism of the Japanese were largely driven by their belief that their emperor was a god destined to rule the world. State Shinto became the national religion, promoting an ideology of Japanese racial superiority.

By the end of World War II, Japan had been fighting for 14 years. Almost 3 million Japanese were dead, with many more injured or gravely ill. Most of the population was starving, and the nation lay in ruins. But even then, nothing short of two atomic bombs was able to bring a halt to Japan’s perverse military fanaticism.

It was then, in the immediate aftermath of that tragic history, that the United States occupied Japan and drafted its constitution. U.S. officials, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, wanted to ensure that bellicose fanaticism would not rise again in Japan, so they included Article 9 in the new Constitution. This clause outlawed war as a means for Japan to settle international disputes.

“We are committed,” MacArthur said, “to see that the Japanese people are liberated from this condition of slavery.”

But today, Japan is taking troubling steps away from pacifism and back toward full militarization. There are also signs that parts of the leadership would welcome a return to emperor worship. Have Japan and the world changed enough to justify modern Tokyo’s return to militarism and nationalism? If not, where is this leading?

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