Today’s episode is brought to you by the Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

 

In February 2022, Dr. Jason Dawsey, Research Historian for the museum, talked with Dr. Yoshikuni Igarashi, one of the country's leading authorities on postwar Japan.

 

On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had agreed to the Allies’ terms laid out in the Potsdam Declaration,

 

This left many questions about the future of Japan and America’s role in it.

 

Jason and Yoshi covered: How did the deep animus between Imperial Japan and the United States during the War transform into a lasting postwar alliance? How did the authoritarian Japanese state transition into a democracy? How did the Japanese respond to the experience of defeat, occupation, and then restoration of independence in the decade after World War II? And much more.

 

If you would like to view the original conversation, you can see it here: https://youtu.be/238F64SQGvU