After Hiroshima: The US Occupation of Japan
Following Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, the US aimed to rebuild the nation in its own image – for better or worse.
The most famous image of the Allied Occupation of Japan, which ran from August 1945 to April 1952, shows General Douglas MacArthur looming over a diminutive Emperor Hirohito. The Japanese government at the time regarded the photo as a fiasco. In the past, only Imperial Household photographers had been allowed anywhere near the emperor with a camera, and even they had to stay at least 20 metres back and use telephoto lenses. Hirohito had a slight stoop, which meant that only his upper body was permitted to be photographed. Shots from sideways on were forbidden. Not only is MacArthur far more physically imposing in the photograph, but the emperor’s suit appears not to fit him very well; as a manifest kami (god), the emperor could not be touched by his tailor.
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