Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

by John W. Dower

This was the setting in which the entire country was confronted with The Photograph—the most famous visual image of the entire occupation period, which appeared in the same newspapers. This overshadowed accounts of the emperor’s “interview,” appalled the Home Ministry’s censors (a banner day indeed for the watchdogs), and was another reason that they attempted to recall those press runs. The photo depicted MacArthur and the emperor standing together in the general’s quarters, and there was no mistaking who possessed greater authority. The supreme commander, wearing an open-necked khaki shirt and no medals, held himself almost casually, hands behind his hips, arms slightly akimbo. He towered over the emperor, who stood stiffly to his left in full morning dress. Even the age difference between the two leaders reinforced the general’s seniority. MacArthur was sixty-five years old at the time. The emperor, forty-four, was young enough to have been his son.