Evaluate the way another historian has dealt with postwar Japanese history. John Dower, the author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, believes that many Japanese “embraced defeat,” accepting and aiding the U.S. occupation. He also says that despite this,
the Japanese in many ways shaped the post-war world. Finally, he argues that immediately after the war, the U.S. and Japan were working for pacifism and greater democracy. He argues that policies of the U.S.A. prevented Japan from moving further in that direction and instead encouraged authoritarianism.
Do you agree with Dower’s arguments ? Why or why not?
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