ABSTRACT
The Allied occupation of Japan began on 2 September 1945 when the surrender documents were signed by representatives of the Japanese government, Army and Navy on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The British Commonwealth Occupation Force occupied Western Honshu and Shikoku. Many of those who studied Japanese at School of Oriental and African Studies during the war went to Japan with the occupation army. After Sir Hugh Cortazzi completed the Interrogators’ Course, he was sent to India to work at the Red Fort in Delhi where Japanese PoWs were interned. The Japanese generally complied with occupation army regulations and no reporting was necessary. Ian Nish went on to specialise in the history of Anglo-Japanese relations, becoming an international authority on the subject, as well as on modern Japanese history generally. Nish had a wide range of duties but often found himself assisting the Japanese police trying to block the black market in rice.
