Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
American biographer William Manchester argues that without MacArthur's leadership, Japan would not have been able to make the move from an imperial, totalitarian state, to a democracy.
He ordered Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, who accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in southern Korea in September 1945, to govern that area on SCAP's behalf and report to him in Tokyo.
As Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, MacArthur decided not to prosecute Shiro Ishii and all members of the bacteriological research units in exchange for germ warfare data based on human experimentation.
"[10] MacArthur's reasoning was that if the emperor were executed or sentenced to life imprisonment there would be a violent backlash and revolution from the Japanese of all social classes, and this would interfere with his primary goal of changing Japan from a militarist, feudal society to a pro-Western modern democracy.
In a cable sent to General Dwight Eisenhower in February 1946, MacArthur stated that executing or imprisoning the emperor would require the use of one million occupation soldiers to keep the peace.
MacArthur was focused on the task at hand, shown by his refusal to address the Japanese leadership or public directly, instead electing to go straight to and from his office every day, without stops.
[18] Japan's hereditary peerage, called kazoku, that lasted for over a millennium in different but essentially similar forms, was abolished by the new Japanese constitution that was heavily influenced by MacArthur.
The Japanese population was in a poor state: most people were badly worn down, doctors and medicines were very scarce, and sanitary systems had been bombed out in larger cities.
Millions of refugees from the defunct overseas empire were pouring in, often in bad physical shape, with a high risk of introducing smallpox, typhus and cholera.
SCAP arrested 28 suspected war criminals on account of crimes against peace, but it did not conduct the Tokyo Trials; the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was responsible instead.
[4]: 323 Before the war crimes trials actually convened, SCAP, the IPS and officials from Hirohito's Shōwa government worked behind the scenes not only to prevent the imperial family being indicted, but also to slant the testimony of the defendants to ensure that no one implicated the Emperor.
[4]: 325 As Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, MacArthur also decided not to prosecute Shiro Ishii and all members of the bacteriological research units in exchange for germ warfare data based on human experimentation.
"[27] MacArthur's reasoning was if the emperor were executed or sentenced to life imprisonment there would be a violent backlash and revolution from the Japanese from all social classes and this would interfere with his primary goal to change Japan from a militarist, feudal society to a pro-Western modern democracy.
In a cable sent to General Dwight Eisenhower in February 1946 MacArthur said executing or imprisoning the emperor would require the use of one million occupation soldiers to keep the peace.
[29][30][31] MacArthur handed over power to the Japanese government in 1949, but remained in Japan until relieved by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951, after which he was succeeded as SCAP by General Matthew Ridgway.
The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on 8 September 1951, marked the end of the Allied occupation, and when it went into effect on 28 April 1952, Japan was once again an independent state.
They primarily function in a support role, providing defense for Japan and the surrounding region, per the agreements of the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty.
[33][34] These incidents led to plans to relocate military bases in Okinawa, namely Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, as three quarters of all USFJ installations are located in the prefecture, despite its small size.
