00:00:10
from polio to Germany from Alaska to
00:00:21
Puerto Rico all over the world the
00:00:25
United States Army is on the alert to
00:00:28
defend our country you the American
00:00:31
people against aggression this is the
00:00:36
big picture
00:00:37
an official television report to the
00:00:40
nation from the United States Army now
00:00:42
to show you part of the big picture here
00:00:45
is sergeant Stewart Queen Japan is the
00:00:48
key to the fate of the Far East once
00:00:51
again for the second time in the March
00:00:53
of modern history those words have
00:00:56
urgent reality but now there is a
00:00:59
difference in their meaning the United
00:01:02
States Army has come to know Japan well
00:01:04
in recent years war in occupation and
00:01:09
finally in partnership in the record of
00:01:14
that relationship there can be found the
00:01:15
changing symbol of Japan's place in the
00:01:18
Far East once it was a symbol of
00:01:21
destruction
00:01:22
today we look upon it with hope as a
00:01:26
symbol of stability here at SIA a muscle
00:01:32
that means welcome home in Japanese to
00:01:36
these American soldiers after a tour of
00:01:39
duty in Korea they are returning to
00:01:41
their base in Japan where once a short
00:01:44
time before they were stationed as
00:01:46
occupation troops and how do they return
00:01:48
how are they received by the people
00:01:51
whose land they occupied not as
00:01:53
overlords not as antagonists not as men
00:01:57
who are distrusted and feared and
00:01:59
present
00:02:00
but as friends
00:02:02
[Music]
00:02:14
the military occupation of Japan is long
00:02:17
since over now but this is its fruit it
00:02:21
was an occupation without precedent in
00:02:23
the history of the Orient and its
00:02:25
results are likewise unparalleled a
00:02:27
strong active friendship grows out of
00:02:30
old enmities a bond of mutual trust and
00:02:33
goodwill ties together the people who
00:02:36
once were the victors and those who were
00:02:39
the Vanquish here at Tia a muscle said
00:02:46
with warmth and feeling it is a welcome
00:02:48
that would thrill any soldier it's a
00:02:51
different kind of reception from the
00:02:52
fall of 1945 when the Americans marched
00:02:56
through the streets of Japan while the
00:02:58
Japanese people huddled silent and
00:03:00
frightened by their bombed-out houses
00:03:01
there were no cries then of welcome on
00:03:04
their lips and in their faces there was
00:03:07
no sign of friendship only fear and
00:03:10
apprehension how could this picture
00:03:14
change so completely in a few years time
00:03:16
what accounts for the difference
00:03:20
it is the difference between this which
00:03:23
was Japan at the end of the war a
00:03:25
defeated nation lying in ruins its land
00:03:28
gutted and scarred many of its old modes
00:03:31
of life uprooted hundreds of thousands
00:03:34
of its people loss
00:03:43
a nation without hope bewildered and
00:03:49
confused and this the Japan which stand
00:03:55
today a nation rebuilt after the years
00:03:58
of American occupation rededicated to
00:04:00
democratic pursuits and realigned in
00:04:03
friendship with the West this is
00:04:05
particularly important to the free world
00:04:07
today because again
00:04:09
Japan's future is the key to the future
00:04:12
of the entire four East during the years
00:04:15
of Japan's struggle for new life the
00:04:17
Menace of Soviet aggression began to
00:04:19
spread over the Orient the Russians
00:04:21
would like to include Japan in their
00:04:23
orbit because of its location and its
00:04:25
industrial capacity and if they were
00:04:28
able to take over Japan they would soon
00:04:30
be able to control all Asia toward this
00:04:33
end the Communists in Japan have
00:04:35
employed their usual tools of dissension
00:04:38
and discord the Communists here are not
00:04:46
strong but they are noisy they have
00:04:49
tried to undermine Japan's security by
00:04:52
promoting hatred of Americans
00:04:56
[Music]
00:04:59
their campaign has harvested violence
00:05:02
better demonstrations of mob passion
00:05:05
whose purpose was to drive a wedge
00:05:06
between the Japanese and American people
00:05:10
but in spite of the most serious efforts
00:05:13
of the Communist Japan's ties with the
00:05:15
United States remains strong those ties
00:05:18
made of respect and trust and
00:05:21
cooperation started building immediately
00:05:23
in the occupation when the Japanese
00:05:26
first met the American forces and
00:05:28
learned their purpose they found that
00:05:30
instead of coming as conquering masters
00:05:32
to their homeland the Americans came
00:05:34
instead as friend to help the Japanese
00:05:37
clear new paths toward peace and
00:05:39
prosperity
00:05:40
[Music]
00:05:50
to the Herculean task of rebuilding
00:05:52
their devastated nation the Japanese
00:05:55
people themselves brought their native
00:05:57
gifts of diligence industriousness and
00:05:59
persistence with a devotion that matched
00:06:02
that of any people in the world's
00:06:04
history they labored hard to remove the
00:06:07
evidences of war from their beloved land
00:06:11
[Music]
00:06:17
to aid them in this task the United
00:06:20
States brought assistance and
00:06:22
encouragement Japan's new constitution
00:06:25
compiled under American guidance led the
00:06:28
framework for democracy it gave the
00:06:30
people the right to exercise their
00:06:32
sovereignty through their elected
00:06:34
representatives as a result the
00:06:36
phenomenon of free elections a condition
00:06:39
which Americans accept this casually as
00:06:41
they accept the air they breathe began
00:06:43
to appear for the first time in Japan's
00:06:46
long history political parties sprang up
00:06:49
and campaign for their candidates in the
00:06:52
free swinging style of a democracy women
00:06:55
were given the right to vote Japan's new
00:06:58
constitution brought other changes civil
00:07:01
liberties were guaranteed for all
00:07:03
persons men and women rich and poor the
00:07:10
press had always been a tightly
00:07:12
controlled voice of the state in Japan
00:07:14
the militarist government before the war
00:07:17
had used it to keep the people deluded
00:07:19
and submissive under the occupation the
00:07:22
press was made free and with freedom of
00:07:24
the press came the other great freedoms
00:07:27
of democracy freedom of speech and
00:07:29
freedom of assembly
00:07:31
democracy was new when strange to the
00:07:34
Japanese people but they responded to
00:07:36
its accelerating effects with
00:07:38
seriousness and responsibility
00:07:40
[Music]
00:07:42
another great reform brought by the
00:07:45
occupation was the redistribution of
00:07:47
farmland at the end of the war two
00:07:50
thirds of Japan's farmers were tenants
00:07:52
working land not their own for only a
00:07:55
small share of the crop today as a
00:08:00
result of the land reform program
00:08:02
brought about in the occupation 90% of
00:08:05
Japan's farmers have a piece of land of
00:08:07
their own the total amount of arable
00:08:09
land in Japan is small the average farm
00:08:12
is only two and a half acres compared to
00:08:15
155 in the United States because of this
00:08:18
the average Japanese farmer is not
00:08:21
wealthy but he tends his land carefully
00:08:23
conserving every precious inch of it and
00:08:26
the fruits of his labor are his own he
00:08:29
is independent and independence was long
00:08:32
the Japanese farmers dream to help
00:08:40
rebuild Japan the United States supplied
00:08:43
help in tangible form as well as
00:08:46
political and economic guidance during
00:08:48
the occupation
00:08:49
we gave Japan more than two billion
00:08:52
dollars worth of aid including food for
00:08:55
the war had all but shattered Japan's
00:08:57
economy and the hungry people cannot
00:08:59
learn democratic ways very quickly the
00:09:02
task of reconstructing the devastated
00:09:04
nation was slow and difficult with many
00:09:07
heartbreaking setbacks like the
00:09:09
floodwaters which rolled up from the sea
00:09:11
carrying misery and destruction floods
00:09:14
engulfed an in various sections but each
00:09:17
place the tragic story was the same
00:09:19
after the tides had subsided acre after
00:09:22
acre of carefully tended farmland lay
00:09:25
covered entire communities were isolated
00:09:30
when catastrophe like this struck the
00:09:33
occupation forces rushed emergency age
00:09:35
of the speken communities
00:09:38
[Music]
00:09:41
the Army's Medical Corps assumed the
00:09:44
task of pushing through whatever
00:09:45
obstacles it could to deliver needed
00:09:48
personnel and equipment nurses and
00:09:52
doctors to care for the sick
00:09:54
[Music]
00:10:01
medical supplies to ward off disease
00:10:04
food and clothing
00:10:15
under the stimulus of American aid
00:10:17
Japan's industry began to revive slowly
00:10:21
at first and often literally from
00:10:23
scratch materials were scarce but the
00:10:26
industrious Japanese people have a great
00:10:28
amount of ingenuity and they accepted
00:10:30
what little they had and built from that
00:10:33
the lowly tin can for instance discarded
00:10:36
at American military bases and salvaged
00:10:38
by the Japanese became raw material in
00:10:41
the revival of Japan's important toy
00:10:43
industry the sea has always been an
00:10:58
important source of Japan's food supply
00:11:00
and since ancient times her fishing
00:11:03
fleets have been her greatest industry
00:11:05
in normal times her fishermen bring in
00:11:08
one-fourth of the world's fish products
00:11:10
at the end of the war found almost half
00:11:13
the fleet sunk or out of commission and
00:11:15
what was left was in harbor for lack of
00:11:18
fuel and equipment occupation
00:11:20
authorities put fishing high on the list
00:11:22
of industries needing help and once more
00:11:25
the coastal waters around Japan are
00:11:27
filled with vessels carrying fishermen
00:11:30
who calmed the sea for one of the most
00:11:32
important staples in the Japanese diet
00:11:40
Japan's textile industry including its
00:11:43
famed silk Mills was one of the first
00:11:45
industries to be revived today although
00:11:48
it has been hampered by diminishing
00:11:50
markets textiles make up nearly half of
00:11:52
Japan's exports Japan's heavy industry
00:11:58
began to grow such as the shipbuilding
00:12:01
industry which revived the nation's
00:12:03
merchant fleets to carry japan's exports
00:12:05
into the world markets this industrial
00:12:08
rebirth was spurred not only by American
00:12:11
aid but also by Japan's own affinity for
00:12:14
industrialization since the 19th century
00:12:17
Japan has been mastering the techniques
00:12:19
of industrial production matching the
00:12:22
best records produced during the
00:12:23
industrial revolution in the West this
00:12:26
ability once made Japan the strongest
00:12:28
nation in all Asia but the war set her
00:12:31
back some 10 years behind the West in
00:12:33
industrial techniques
00:12:35
[Music]
00:12:41
she suffered from old plants and
00:12:44
equipment and lack of contact with
00:12:46
technical advances elsewhere in the
00:12:47
world but with American help she started
00:12:50
to catch up not only government health
00:12:53
but private American investment as well
00:12:55
has helped Japan in the seven some of
00:12:58
the United States leading industrial
00:13:00
enterprises encouraged by investment
00:13:02
incentives have developed a private
00:13:04
technical assistance program which is
00:13:07
aiding Japan in measurably and once
00:13:09
again Japan is ahead of every other
00:13:11
nation in Asia in knowledge of mass
00:13:14
production methods Japan became
00:13:20
particularly important to the United
00:13:21
States when the communist armies shook
00:13:24
the stability of the Far East by
00:13:26
marching on South Korea in the summer of
00:13:28
1950 when the free world promptly met
00:13:31
the challenge Japan became the base from
00:13:34
which the United Nations directed its
00:13:36
campaign to halt aggression it was now
00:13:39
that the real test of Japan's friendship
00:13:42
of the United States came occupation
00:13:45
troops left Japan for the fighting zone
00:13:47
at one point every major tactical unit
00:13:50
had led Japan in many military
00:13:52
occupations this would be a dangerous
00:13:55
situation signaling the opportunity for
00:13:57
uprising among the occupied people but
00:14:00
in Japan there was no disturbance the
00:14:03
occupation proved a success without
00:14:05
Japanese bases from which to move troops
00:14:08
and equipment the prosecution of the
00:14:10
Korean campaign would have been much
00:14:12
more difficult indeed
00:14:17
the Japanese helped our war effort not
00:14:20
only through their loyalty and moral
00:14:22
support but in a more direct way as well
00:14:25
Japanese industrialists turned their
00:14:27
attention to the war needs of the United
00:14:29
Nations and on a competitive bid basis
00:14:32
undertook to produce these items
00:14:39
you
00:14:42
their factories turned out equipment of
00:14:45
all kinds of a fighting troops of the
00:14:47
United Nations
00:14:48
[Music]
00:15:12
japanese laborers worked in united
00:15:15
states army plants to repair damaged
00:15:17
military equipment all this activity
00:15:19
spurred by japan's friendship with the
00:15:22
united states and also a beneficial
00:15:24
effect upon japanese industry the united
00:15:27
nations spent at the rate of 300 million
00:15:29
dollars a year for the military goods it
00:15:32
bought related spending by United
00:15:34
Nations forces pumped another five
00:15:36
hundred million dollars a year into
00:15:38
Japan's economy
00:15:40
[Music]
00:15:46
over the last few years the Japanese
00:15:48
people have had occasion to meet many
00:15:50
Americans high-ranking representatives
00:15:53
of the United States from all walks of
00:15:55
American life
00:15:59
[Music]
00:16:14
but the greatest unofficial ambassador
00:16:17
of goodwill has been the American
00:16:20
soldier since the very beginning of the
00:16:24
occupation he has been in direct contact
00:16:27
with the Japanese people themselves most
00:16:33
of what they know of American life they
00:16:36
have learned from the soldiers who have
00:16:37
been stationed in their land
00:16:45
[Music]
00:16:49
the Association was not always simple
00:16:52
there were many barriers to complete
00:16:54
understanding particularly
00:16:56
language and cultural ones but both the
00:16:59
Japanese citizens and the American
00:17:01
soldiers put their hearts into it and it
00:17:04
is out of their Association that the
00:17:06
friendship between the two countries
00:17:07
derives much of its strength it is with
00:17:10
the children of any foreign country
00:17:12
that the American soldier first makes
00:17:14
friends and Japan was no exception
00:17:17
[Music]
00:17:35
[Applause]
00:17:36
Kandee the universal language of
00:17:39
childhood the common denominator of
00:17:41
friendship some might call this bribery
00:17:44
the art of playing friendship well
00:17:46
perhaps but a child's friendship is not
00:17:48
easily bought so perhaps there is
00:17:50
another name for it which the child
00:17:52
knows whether the cynic does or not
00:17:55
kindness it is an art which the GI has
00:17:58
practiced for a long time and children
00:18:00
the world over have responded in Japan
00:18:03
the soldiers and children became fast
00:18:05
friends immediately almost every
00:18:08
military unit in the country entertained
00:18:10
a group of youngsters at one time or
00:18:12
another they contributed generously to
00:18:14
orphanages and other child charities the
00:18:21
American soldier did not set out
00:18:23
consciously to be an ambassador even an
00:18:25
unofficial one all he had in mind was to
00:18:28
enjoy himself as well as he could away
00:18:30
from home to take advantage of all the
00:18:32
opportunities for enjoyment that the
00:18:34
scenic land of Japan offered not
00:18:37
everything in this strange culture was
00:18:38
easy for him to understand the Shinto
00:18:41
religion for instance
00:18:42
[Music]
00:18:47
or the precise formality of Japanese
00:18:50
manners
00:18:53
[Music]
00:19:04
but the soldier didn't have to
00:19:07
understand it all to appreciate it and
00:19:09
in his appreciation of the things Japan
00:19:11
had to offer he earned the goodwill of
00:19:13
the Japanese people as well as finding
00:19:16
pleasure himself in the enjoyment of new
00:19:18
experiences for their part the Japanese
00:19:36
too had difficulty understanding some
00:19:38
American customs
00:19:45
but through exhibitions staged by the
00:19:49
American forces country fairs for
00:19:51
instance where American landmarks were
00:19:54
represented the Japanese learned a great
00:19:56
deal about the United States replicas of
00:20:03
American institutions enabled them to
00:20:05
learn something of its government they
00:20:08
were fascinated in their discovery of
00:20:10
its political history
00:20:13
[Music]
00:20:18
it's industrial-strength the Majestic
00:20:21
look of its cities they learned about us
00:20:24
in other ways too
00:20:29
customs and traditions which for ages
00:20:31
have appealed to children of the West
00:20:33
had an impact on children of the East
00:20:35
the Boy Scout movement always popular
00:20:43
with Japanese youth deteriorated during
00:20:45
the war years but its revival after the
00:20:48
war from the same kind of popularity
00:20:50
with the new generation of Japanese boys
00:20:56
[Music]
00:20:58
international jamberries provided
00:21:01
Japanese Scouts with an opportunity to
00:21:03
meet and work with boys of other nations
00:21:05
with great success it is among the youth
00:21:10
that westernization has a particular
00:21:13
appeal in Japan at a school set up by
00:21:19
American women in Japan young Japanese
00:21:22
wives of American soldiers learn how an
00:21:24
American housewife goes about her duties
00:21:29
[Music]
00:21:35
it's not that one system is better than
00:21:37
the other but there are areas of great
00:21:40
difference between the Japanese and the
00:21:42
American Way of baby pending cooking and
00:21:45
many other activities these young
00:21:48
Japanese Brides will soon be going to
00:21:50
the United States with their husbands
00:21:52
and they want to learn the customs and
00:21:54
the manners of their new home in the
00:21:57
steady forging of friendship between the
00:21:59
two peoples the Japanese and Americans
00:22:01
have done more than sample each other's
00:22:03
cultures they have participated together
00:22:05
in many activities their youth have met
00:22:08
on the field of sports a good proving
00:22:10
ground for any friendship swimming meats
00:22:15
are a particular favorite drawing great
00:22:18
crowds of spectators Americans and
00:22:20
Japanese alike traditional aid both
00:22:26
nations produce top swimmers and they
00:22:29
delight in bringing their best
00:22:30
representatives together to play aquatic
00:22:32
games or to compete in distance swimming
00:22:41
each with his own distinctive style
00:22:43
[Music]
00:23:05
competition in sports in itself is not
00:23:09
perhaps a solid enough base upon which a
00:23:11
structure of international friendship
00:23:13
can be built but it helps the military
00:23:17
occupation of Japan ended on April 28
00:23:21
1952 after a peace treaty between the
00:23:24
two countries was signed at San
00:23:25
Francisco American troops are still in
00:23:31
Japan today as defense troops training
00:23:34
instead of performing occupation duties
00:23:42
[Music]
00:23:46
we recognize the defense of Japan as our
00:23:50
first military responsibility in the Far
00:23:52
East and by mutual agreement between the
00:23:55
Japanese and American government our
00:23:57
troops will remain in Japan to provide
00:23:59
her with a security she needs Japan lies
00:24:06
perilously close to both Russia and
00:24:08
Communist China and the American troops
00:24:11
in Japan are closer than any other
00:24:13
forces to the Iron Curtain which hides
00:24:15
Soviet ambition so in a very real sense
00:24:19
these troops are poised on the front
00:24:21
lines of the free world's defenses for
00:24:24
there is little doubt that Japan figures
00:24:26
prominently in long-range Soviet plans
00:24:29
through constant training in maneuver
00:24:32
these troops prepare for any sudden move
00:24:34
any eventuality
00:24:36
for the harsh truth today is that
00:24:39
strength and vigilance for the price of
00:24:41
freedom the free world has learned that
00:24:43
and Japan has recognized it too and is
00:24:46
moving steadily toward the day when she
00:24:48
will be strong enough to defend herself
00:24:50
against aggression
00:24:53
[Music]
00:24:56
Japan has a national security force of
00:24:59
110 thousand men made up of police and
00:25:02
constabulary troops who were trained
00:25:04
during the occupation this force will be
00:25:07
expanded in the future and with American
00:25:09
help equipped with heavy weapons picking
00:25:13
her way carefully through the mistakes
00:25:15
of recent history avoiding the excesses
00:25:18
that led once to catastrophe Japan is
00:25:20
taking on the responsibilities that go
00:25:23
with freedom Japan's historic and
00:25:27
colorful past is important and
00:25:29
meaningful to the Japanese nation today
00:25:31
four out of that pass has come the
00:25:34
folklore the traditions and beliefs
00:25:36
which mold a national character
00:25:51
Japan's period of association with the
00:25:54
West has been relatively short as
00:25:56
history goes here American Friends of
00:25:59
Japan tells the Japanese people
00:26:01
celebrate the anniversary of the opening
00:26:03
of one of the nation's major ports to
00:26:05
Western ships less than a century ago
00:26:08
that century of contact with the Western
00:26:11
world has been a turbulent one for Japan
00:26:13
it has brought her great strength but it
00:26:15
is also brought great defeat and violent
00:26:19
change to many of the symbols and values
00:26:21
she lived by
00:26:41
but out of it all there is emerging
00:26:44
today a new Japan with traditions still
00:26:47
rooted in its national past but with its
00:26:50
future tied to the fortunes of the West
00:26:52
a strong Japan in which the free world
00:26:55
sees the hope of stability and peace in
00:26:58
the Orient our tires of friendship with
00:27:04
Japan are strong in this fact lies part
00:27:08
of our strength and much of our hope for
00:27:10
peace
00:27:12
this is sergeant Stewart queen inviting
00:27:16
you to be with us on the same channel
00:27:17
next week for another look at the big
00:27:20
picture the United States Army in action
00:27:24
the big picture is a weekly television
00:27:27
report to the nation on the activities
00:27:29
of the Army at home and overseas
00:27:32
produced by the Signal Corps pictorial
00:27:34
Center
00:27:37
presented by the US Army in cooperation
00:27:40
with this station you can be an
00:27:44
important part of the big picture you
00:27:46
can proudly serve with a best equipped
00:27:48
the best trained the best fighting team
00:27:50
in the world today the United States
00:27:52
Army
