Summary:

Henry Oinas-Kukkonen, How to Meet Fukuda-san? An Advice to the First US Occupation Soldiers

At the end of the Second World War, the United States occupied Japan. The U.S had to weigh how the occupation would succeed and the intention was to ensure that the first encounter between the Japanese people and the occupying forces would proceed appropriately.

A restricted bulletin, Guide to Japan, which was produced by the Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas in 1 September 1945, sought to explain to the first US occupation soldiers how to meet the typical Japanese, “Mr. Smith” of Japan: Fukuda-san.

The Guide to Japan was an attempt at reducing anti-Japanese prejudice and hatred that had become etched into the minds of the soldiers of the occupying forces by the relentless battles and experiences and the intense war propaganda they had been subjected to. The guide made a clear distinction between the two cultures and the peoples living in them and proposed caution, but it also endeavoured to instil into the occupying soldiers a trust in the idea that the relations between the citizens of the two countries could change as the Japanese would transform into something more appealing to the Americans.

It was speculated in the guide that, in the renewed circumstances brought about by a successful encounter with the U.S, the Fukuda-san that had so far felt so alien could have a chance to “turn out to be a pretty fair citizen. Who knows?”