The Korean Peninsula was divided after the second world war as the Soviet Union occupied the north and the US occupying the south. Though this division was initially meant to be temporary, the subsequent Korean War and its aftermath cemented the divisions for both North and South as the Cold War brought troops from both the United States and the People’s Republic of China into direct conflict.
As the People’s Republic of China sought to establish itself as a modern nation state, its government chose to imitate the Soviet Union’s path to modernization as they collectivized agriculture, labor, and industry with unfortunately devastating results.
After the Japanese Imperial Army evacuated China, any hopes of peaceful reunification were dashed as the Nationalists and Communists continued fighting the Chinese Civil War, the result of which would see the birth of the People’s Republic of China.
As incomes soared and standards of living likewise rising, the demand for entertainment in Japan also rose and the industries of film, television, and animation would produce some of the most innovative and influential works ever made.
The Economic Miracle period witnessed, as its name suggests, tremendous economic growth throughout Japan. However, that growth came at a cost to Japan’s organized working class as well as white collar workers whose pursuit of productivity often compromised their health.
Ikeda Hayato managed to garner the necessary support to become the President of the LDP and the Prime Minister of Japan after Kishi Nobusuke’s resignation in 1960. He would prove to be almost the polar opposite of his arch-conservative predecessor, creating much of the social safety net which Japan continues to enjoy today. His successor, Sato Eisaku, lobbied for the return of Okinawa Prefecture and was forced to wrangle with complicated geopolitical challenges and domestic disturbances.
Conservatives and Leftists both experienced party mergers after the 1955 general election. However, it was the Liberal Democratic Party who would emerge as the big winner for the foreseeable future.
The Allied occupation changed Japan’s social norms in a variety of ways. When the occupation ended, some of those changes would remain while others would fall by the wayside. In the midst of rebuilding, economic chaos, and privation, the Japanese film industry entered its golden age.
Japan’s economy expanded rapidly during the postwar rebuild – too rapidly. Hyperinflation created unrest and frustration which the labor movement hoped to harness. Meanwhile, the diet passed a sweeping land reform which radically transformed Japan’s agrarian sector.
While the Allied occupation forces had initially supported the restoration of far-left parties to Japan’s political arena, the advent of the Cold War led to a reversal of sorts which included de-purging those who had supported imperial-era war crimes and purging some on the left whose loyalty to the US was in doubt.