ABSTRACT
When the military occupation of Japan ended in 1952, not even a Cassandra could have foretold what lay ahead for United States-Japanese relations. Now, a full generation later, the problems that divided the two countries before the Pacific War are absent. With generally similar diplomatic interests, Japan subscribes not only to the American military strategy of preventing Soviet expansion but also the American goal of ensuring participation on an equal basis of most countries in the vast global exchange of goods and services. Americans and Japanese alike, mindful of the exceptional role Japan currently plays in world affairs, are sensitive to the fact that, if Japan became alienated from the United States, its foreign policy might take any conceivable course—from accommodation with the Soviet Union to a massive rearming, including nuclear weapons. Remilitarization, preceded by repeal of the no-war clause in the constitution, would unquestionably pose a threat to Japanese democracy, the establishment of which was a major objective of American policy during the military occupation, which lasted until 1952.
