Tommy lee jones recreated the classic scene in the movie The Sunset Truth.
MacArthur's activities in Japan are very regular:
Twice a day, he went from the American Embassy to the office of the Allied Supreme Command in the former Japan First Life Insurance Building. He never deals with ordinary Japanese, just stays in the office and gives orders. Only 16 Japanese had the privilege of talking to him more than twice. These people are celebrities and dignitaries, such as the prime minister and university presidents.
MacArthur's commute will attract Japanese onlookers.
He led a team of 1500 soldiers and civilians (increased from 1948 to 3,200) and issued a series of decrees to the Japanese authorities that were enough to "touch every Japanese and reshape their thoughts, feelings and way of life". Americans form small teams, go deep into communities and some non-governmental organizations, and provide American citizenship education for Japanese who are even housewives. Later, some observers described that sometimes the occupiers showed superior idealism and generosity. They distribute chocolates and sweets, are willing to listen, are willing to send strangers to the hospital, do good deeds without asking for anything in return, and even let the Japanese pass first when they meet on narrow roads.
Of course, there are also unpleasant places. Ordinary American soldiers enjoy the best treatment. They occupy the best houses in Japan, including chefs, footmen and maids, gardeners and laundry girls. All expenses are paid by the Japanese government. At Christmas, everywhere is decorated with colored lights, but only the stars and stripes are allowed. 1In June, 948, a man in Yokohama was sentenced to six months' criminal detention for flying the Japanese flag privately. Laws and notices posted everywhere begin with "according to the orders of the occupying forces" to remind the Japanese army of its defeat at all times. Some Japanese probably want to resist, but nearly one million American troops stationed in Japan are the solid backing of these laws, and no one dares to disobey them.
American warships in Sagami Bay
MacArthur forced Japan to modernize almost according to his own wishes. He destroyed the chaebol system and reformed the education system, forcing Truman to provide food aid to Japan after the war, so that ordinary Japanese could survive in those most difficult days, and the hatred for the latter was finally replaced by gratitude.
The Allied High Command receives a large number of letters from all over Japan every day, and most of them are addressed to the Supreme Commander himself. According to incomplete statistics, from September 1946 to May 195 1, the US Translation Bureau handled 44 1 1 letters and postcards. The authors come from all walks of life in Japan, and most of them are written in English with rich contents. Professor Nijiro Sumi, a Japanese researcher, read some letters carefully. He thought it was "an unprecedented communication between the conquered and the conquerors", and writers actually accounted for 7.5% of the adult population in Japan at that time, which was a terrible proportion.
MacArthur's vanity can be imagined from these letters. Most of them begin with titles such as "God's mercy" and "Living Savior". An old man in Aomori said that he worships MacArthur's portrait every morning and evening, just as he used to worship the emperor. A local cultural association in Kobe produced a Japanese-style "Monte Cristo", in which MacArthur educated the Japanese like a god. The association claimed that MacArthur had "Buddha-like compassion" and described him as a "friend from afar" with the famous saying of The Analects of Confucius.
Some ordinary men and women confided to him the sins of their past belief in militarism and admitted that he was a priest. MacArthur also received many gifts, such as a tribute to the monarch. 1in the summer of 948, a fisherman wrote that he had been thinking hard about how to pay tribute to the general, claiming that "because of your outstanding thoughts and talents, the Japanese have made achievements that even years of bloody fighting could not achieve", so he decided to present the most delicious product he knew-catfish. From June 1946 to June 1 1, a Japanese craftsman spent three years making handmade brocade kimonos and belts for MacArthur at the Xia Ya Shrine in Kyoto. As a "spiritual symbol of 70 million innocent people", each needle represents a kind of Japanese respect.
All kinds of gifts came like snowflakes, including dolls, pottery, lacquerware, bamboo products, ancient books, bonsai, animal specimens, armor, swords, paintings and calligraphy, and the number was overwhelming. MacArthur was 65 years old when he occupied Japan, so he also received countless birthday gifts, especially the common rattan and rattan in Japan. As for food, there are plenty of mushrooms, tea, adzuki beans, lotus roots, sweet potatoes, salted salmon, air-dried chestnuts, soybeans, honey, rice and rice cakes.
195 1 year 1 year, in order to celebrate MacArthur's birthday in 7 1 year, officials and gentry in Kanagawa Prefecture presented a bronze bust of MacArthur in the name of the citizens of the whole county and took a group photo in front of it.
A Japanese baker cried and asked the Allied Command to bake bread for MacArthur. A group of Ainu people, the aborigines of Hokkaido, Japan, killed a deer and offered antlers, claiming that this was an expression of "he was grateful for defending our territory and establishing a public security society". An old Japanese lady sent a dozen live chickens, some a canary with a black cross on its head, and some a Bible copied in Chinese characters.
Americans make laws for Japan. A man copied the rules on a fan and gave them to MacArthur, a boy of 10, who recorded the growth of pumpkins for the general every day. His father painted a portrait of a pumpkin, and his mother wrote a warm thank-you letter and sent it to the allied commander.
Others begged MacArthur for help. Some people want to be repatriated in time because their families are still overseas. Some people accuse others of being militarists and demand that the US military bring them to justice. High school students and college students reported their teachers, and some old Japanese soldiers were also reported to have hidden swords as souvenirs. Some people claim that their neighbors are anti-American and demand severe punishment. In short, the Japanese, who once claimed to be patriotic, are now keen to tell their allies and betray their compatriots.
Others wrote to ask the United States to turn Japan into a colony and occupy it forever. Some people wrote to ask for the retention of the emperor, while others asked for the abolition of the emperor system. One letter said that "the Japanese emperor is the biggest egoist" and a "vampire", and another letter demanded that at least100000 militarists be hanged. In the hearts of the Japanese people, MacArthur was extremely deified. Asahi Shimbun called him "our father", and some Japanese women simply expressed their hope that "I will give birth to your children".
During that time, great changes have taken place in Japan, which was almost brought into modern society by MacArthur. The spiritual world that the Japanese were proud of was finally shattered by the United States with its powerful force, rich materials and advanced civilization.
At that time, Japanese painter Kenjiro Endo had a cartoon showing a lame Japanese veteran who met an American soldier accompanied by a Japanese woman. Their body form is in sharp contrast. Kenjiro Endo gave this painting a long title: The world has changed so much since they met in Guadalcanal a few years ago.