Japan / USA: An American soldier placing his arm around his Japanese girlfriend as they view the surroundings of Hibiya Park, Tokyo, 21 January 1946

The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.

This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power] It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.

The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.

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