Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

The first chapter evaluates the central issues facing Japan in the immediate wake of the Second World War. Dower frames the beginning and end of this chapter by focusing on the lived experiences of ordinary civilians. After this, Dower details various aspects of the Japanese surrender—from the relevant factual information to the way Emperor Hirohito framed his important turning point, and the way in which it was perceived by the Japanese. Dower moves on to highlight key issues with quantifying war losses and human casualties. Finally, he dedicates a part of this chapter to the central postwar concerns for the Japanese: displaced persons, the plight of veterans, orphans, and widows, to whom he refers as stigmatized victims. If there is one word to summarize the immediate postwar environment, then that word is “uncertainty” (50).

Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings a week prior. Twenty-eight-year-old farmer’s wife Yu Aihara, one of Dower’s witnesses to these historic events, collapsed to the ground after hearing her leader’s words on a small village radio. This war had been the defining narrative for years, and she was worried about her husband.