Food Shortages in Occupied Japan

(As described in the Dartmouth Japanese Press Translations
(http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/search/collection/presstrans/page/1))

Following World War II, Japan was occupied by Allied forces.  The administrative body that presided over this occupation was known as The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or SCAP.  This organization, headed by American General Douglas MacArthur with the support of the British Commonwealth, is described by the U.S. state department as acting with three primary purposes.  These purposes are described as, "Reform and war crimes trials, revival of economy, and conclusion of formal peace treaty and alliance" (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/japan-reconstruction).

SCAPs responsibilities were many.  Among them were censorship and general management of public opinion.  As a result, SCAP produced the Japanese press translations that we possess within our digital collections.  Though our collection is incomplete, it is extensive, and gives great insight into economic, social, and political conditions in Japan during 1945 and 1946.

The Japanese press translations cover several issues in depth, although one that appears consistently is the struggle with food shortages.  War is often costly to a population, and even in the United States, which saw little fighting within its borders, rationing was an important part of the war effort.  In Japan, where the devastation of war was particularly severe, food shortages were of great concern.  Infrastructure for transport of goods had been destroyed by American air raids and millions of Japanese citizens were displaced and reliant on aid for survival.  As such, combating general starvation was a major undertaking for both the growing Japanese government and the Allied powers which presided over it.  Southeast Asia saw a poor rice crop in 1945 and, faced with very limited stores of food, the government attempted to stave off general starvation through strict rationing and imports.

In Social Series 001 (http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/10429/rec/1), reporting from a cabinet meeting indicates that the Japanese government intended to provide rations of rice as a primary staple, with wheat for balance and potatoes as supplement.  However, in 1945 rations consisted of only sweet potatoes and beans.  Professor Kakinuma of Tokyo University discusses the dangers of malnutrition that would result from this limited diet.  He describes the recorded effects on soldiers from the front as "atrophy of organs, swelling of the limbs, general fatigue and eventually...death."  Additionally, he describes the effects of reliance on government rations on his own health.  During his time subsisting on these rations he lost approximately 30 pounds and suffered from regular dizzy spells.  He claims that while the rations may have been enough to prevent outright starvation, they did not provide sufficient nutrition and would result in general sickness.  He goes on to suggest that grasshoppers and other insects be pulverized and rationed as food to provide much needed protein to the Japanese diet.

Indeed, Social Series 001 (http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/10837/rec/12) indicates that 12 men had starved to death between August and November of 1945 on the roads of Japan, and that the number of deaths due to starvation and malnutrition were gradually increasing.  In February of 1946, communities in Hokkaido went 20 days without rations (Economic Series 271 http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/7055/rec/1069), demonstrating how serious the food shortage had become and how potentially dangerous it could be.


Written by Kevin Warstadt