American Bases, Japanese Towns: Everyday Life and Militarization in Postwar Japan, 1945–1958

FAIN: FO-289842-23

Connor Martin Mills
Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH 03755-1808)

Research and writing leading to publication of a book on how the U.S. military presence in Japan and Okinawa during the Occupation (1945-52) and the Korean War (1950-53) affected the daily lives of residents in Japanese base towns. 

This project shows how the U.S. military presence in Japan and Okinawa during the Occupation and the Korean War shaped the everyday lives of the residents of Japan’s postwar base towns. By examining the fundamental effects that the U.S. military had on local communities—the routine prosecution of Japanese citizens by U.S. military courts, the regular commission of crimes by U.S. soldiers, the military employment of Japanese workers, and the military procurement of Japanese supplies and buildings, among others—I show how many Japanese experienced the Occupation as a concrete project that directly impacted their daily lives. By viewing the Occupation as a military project, my research substantially revises existing understandings of the Occupation and uncovers deep links between the Occupation and the Korean War. An accurate understanding of this militarization of postwar Japanese life is vital for addressing some of the most pressing issues in contemporary U.S.–Japanese relations.