The Subversive Activities Prevention Law (SAPL) was the last major controversial law to be drafted at the end of the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) which was managed and controlled by General Headquarters (GHQ) under U.S. General MacArthur and was enacted into law after Japan had regained its formal independence in 1952. Soon after the Occupation began, prewar Japanese internal security laws were ordered abolished by the Occupation. Now that Japan would be re-gaining its independence in 1952, there was urgency to creating a new integrated national internal security law to fill the vacuum created by the Occupation, 1945-1952. The Subversive Activities Prevention Law was to be the centerpiece for maintaining internal security in the new independent Japan. It turned out to be an extremely controversial law that was vociferously opposed by the political opposition in and out of the Diet in light of the prewar history, surrounding how such internal security laws were implemented by the state security apparatus. The demonstrations in 1951-52 against the proposed law, organized by the labor unions, were the largest, loudest and most determined since the end of the war. This publication is the first analysis in English on how this law was drafted and debated, supported and opposed, using the 20+ drafts of the law, and the subsequent deliberations concerning the proposed law in the Houses of Representatives and Councillors. A short epilogue - since over 50 years have elapsed since the law was initially enacted in 1952 - analyzes the implementation of the law during these years. "The Subversive Activities Prevention Law of Japan, Its Creation, 1951-1952" will be of particular interest to those studying the Allied Occupation of Japan, the Japanese political and legislative process and its internal security laws.

Rocked by scandals and accusations that crucial decisions are made by non-elected officials, Japan has been called a democracy in name only. Is it?

Each of the eight chapters deals with a specific topic, such as Shinto, Buddhism, the new religions, and Christianity; there is an introduction that outlines the subject to be considered followed by a series of readings.

"With the ascension of a new emperor and the dawn of the Reiwa Era, Kenneth J. Ruoff has expanded upon and updated The People’s Emperor, his study of the monarchy’s role as a political, societal, and cultural institution in contemporary Japan. Many Japanese continue to define the nation’s identity through the imperial house, making it a window into Japan’s postwar history. Ruoff begins by examining the reform of the monarchy during the U.S. occupation and then turns to its evolution since the Japanese regained the power to shape it. To understand the monarchy’s function in contemporary Japan, the author analyzes issues such as the role of individual emperors in shaping the institution, the intersection of the monarchy with politics, the emperor’s and the nation’s responsibility for the war, nationalistic movements in support of the monarchy, and the remaking of the once-sacrosanct throne into a “people’s imperial house” embedded in the postwar culture of democracy. Finally, Ruoff examines recent developments, including the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the heir crisis, which have brought to the forefront the fragility of the imperial line under the current legal system, leading to calls for reform."

A comprehensive analysis into the background of legal responses to, and wider implications of, hate speech in Japan.

Japan's Militant Teachers is the first comprehensive English-language analysis of the origin and development of the fundamental issues in this struggle. It is an objective approach to the history of the teacher's movement from its prewar conception, through the birth of Nikkyoso in 1947, to that union's present strength encompassing a large majority of all public school teachers. It is significant that this study was undertaken by a non-Japanese. Professor Duke was accepted with full confidence by all parties in the dispute. His study includes material obtained from many firsthand interviews conducted between 1968 and 1970 with the leaders of Nikkyoso and government representatives form the Ministry of Education. He has thus been able to present an objective accounting without passing judgement. This book examines the problems of Nikkyoso within the greater context of Japanese society. It is a good introduction to, and analysis of, the problems facing organized teacher' movements as well as the problems facing Japanese education as a whole.