Japan in the 1950s

After Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II, Allied forces led by the United States occupied the nation, bringing drastic changes. Japan was disarmed, its empire dissolved, its form of government changed to a democracy, and its economy and education system reorganized and rebuilt. Years of reconstruction were required to recover from thousands of air raids, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the 1950s, a former enemy became a Western ally, parts of American culture became part of the Japanese landscape -- and Japan began to find its economic footing as a manufacturer consumer devices and electronics.

Read more
Hints: Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • Lindsay DeDario / Reuters

    Why You Shouldn't Park Your Car Beside Lake Erie in the Winter

    The owner of this Mitsubushi Lancer left it parked overnight outside a restaurant in Hamburg, New York, beside Lake Erie, on a cold and windy night. By the next day, spray blown from Lake Erie had encased it in ice.

  • Adnan Abidi / Reuters

    Tattooing the Name of God on Your Body as an Act of Faith and Defiance

    For decades, low-caste Hindus in Chhattisgarh, India, tattoo the name of the Hindu god Ram on their bodies—acts of faith and defiance, saying “God is everywhere."

  • Hani Ali / Xinhua Press / Corbis

    Yemen's Unending Chaos

    For nearly a year now, Yemen has been torn by a ferocious war pitting rebels against the government, militias against each other, Al Qaeda and ISIS against everybody, a Saudi-led coalition against Iranian-backed forces, and a desperate civilian populace caught in the middle.

  • Edward DeWitt

    Another Appalachia

    A photographer's war on the “War on Poverty”

Join the Discussion