2 thoughts on “Japan / US relations illustrated visually”

  1. Big difference between then and now: Smiles!

    When the Macarthur-Hirohito pic was taken, there was a very real possibility that the emperor would be put on trial for war crimes, so not much reason to smile. MacArthur actually engineered this photo op and did a few takes before settling on this one to submit to the press. The juxtaposition was as necessary to the occupation as it was powerful (to paraphrase John Dower).

    But now that the US and Japan are best friends, it’s smiles all around!

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