Page 65 - Japan’s Cultural Treasures

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Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in 1945.

After a post-World War II occupation under United States General Douglas MacArthur, Japan
regained full sovereignty in 1952. In 1972, the United States returned the Ryuku Islands,
including Okinawa, to Japan thus restoring Japan to its original boundaries. Japan became
one of the world’s great economic powers in the 1970s, dominating worldwide banking and
industry, and having great success in the automotive business. Japan became the world’s
second-largest economy after the United States.

Japan was criticized in 1991 for its failure to join the international coalition that fought in
the Persian Gulf War. Its economy also took a downturn at this time. Throughout the 1990s
Japan was plagued by banking and industrial scandals and had a succession of governments,
explaining why some have nicknamed this the “lost decade”. Today, Japan remains a strong
country, but its economy has not regained the luster of past decades.

Recent History

If the 1990s were the “lost decade”, then the early 2000s may well prove to be the “decade of
scandals”. In 2002, North Korea’s President Kim Jong-Il shocked the world by admitting to
the kidnappings of at least 13 Japanese citizens by North Korean agents during the 1970s and
1980s. The admission was part of a move towards normalizing political relations between the
two countries. Eventually some of the victims were allowed to return to Japan, but not all.

Other newsworthy scandals centered on Japanese history, as in a 2007 refusal by the Japanese
Prime Minister to acknowledge the military’s use of “comfort women” in World War II. Still
other were part of the political machine, like the landslide victory of the Democratic Party in
the 2009 elections—for Parliament this was an abrupt change from the Liberal Democratic
Party that had been in power for nearly 50 years. The same year, Yukio Hatoyama was named
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replaced him as Prime Minister in June of 2010.

Despite the changes to the ruling party and party leadership, the political controversies
continued unabated. In particular, the last few years have seen a strong public debate about
the continued presence of the U.S. military at the Futenma base in Okinawa. An earlier
agreement stated the base would be moved to a less-populated part of Okinawa Island,
and the number of Marines stationed at the base would be reduced. But public opinion has
been divided about moving the base (one proposed site raised environmental concerns), and
many are for removing the base from the island completely. Currently the base has not been
relocated, but plans are underway to reduce the number of Marines.
Sadly, more sober events were soon to take the spotlight away from a decade of political
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earthquake, which in turn triggered a tsunami. Although powerful, the damage from the initial
earthquake was minor compared to the damage caused by the tsunami, which reached heights
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