ABSTRACT
Sakaguchi Ango, a postwar writer, commenting on the Japanese people's reaction to the occupation authorities, said, "Of all peoples the Japanese basically muster up the least hatred and maintain it for the shortest time. Reforms were instituted by a governing authority that accomplished the revolution without bloodshed, a truly remarkable occupation achievement. The ends pursued by the occupation authorities were not vengeance or exploitation, but rather reforms that would enable Japan to achieve a free and democratic society. Although zaibatsu control over the Japanese economy was disrupted, the effort to eliminate big business conglomerates turned out to be the least enduring of the occupation reforms because most of the old zaibatsu firms reunited, albeit in a looser form, after supreme commander of the allied powers (SCAP) departed. Under the direction of SCAP the Diet passed the Farm Land Reform Law in October 1946.
