……Until recently, it has been difficult to imagine the occupation as an “embrace,”or to consider what effect the losers might have had on the victors and their agendas, or how that “American interlude” might have reinforced rather than altered tendencies within the defeated country. It has been difficult, certainly for outsiders, to grasp the defeat and occupation as a lived Japanese experience.

Half a century later, however, we can begin to see things differently. Shattered lands, shattered people, shattered empires, and shattered dreams have been one of the central stories of our times. Certainly, there is much to be learned from the world as viewed through the eyes of the defeated―not only about misery, disorientation, cynicism, and resentment, but also about hope, resiliency, visions, and dreams…….