The Pacific War
Occupation & Reconstruction of Japan
After WW2 ended, Japan was occupied by General Douglas MacArthur. In September, 1945, General MacArthur took charge of the Supreme Command of Allied Powers(SCAP) and began the work of rebuilding Japan. The Allies punished Japan for its past militarism and expansion by convening war crimes trials in Tokyo. Also, the SCAP dismantled the Japanese army and banned former military officers from taking roles of political leadership in the new government. The SCAP introduced land reform, designed to benefit the majority tenant farmers and reduce the power of rich landowners which helped the economy greatly. MacArthur also tried to break up the large Japanese business conglomerates, or zaibatsu, as part of the effort to transform the economy into a free market capitalist system. In 1950, the SCAP created a peace treaty to end the occupation and the war. The final agreement let the United States keep its military base in Okinawa.
