Introduces the book's main argument: that it is too simple, and ultimately misleading, to say that SCAP (that is, General MacArthur and officers of the American Occupation) “imposed” a Constitution on postwar Japan. Rather, in this book, Japan is treated as a case study of democratization. The chapter also introduces the principal players (MacArthur, Whitney, and Kades on the American side; Shidehara, Yoshida, and Kanamori on the Japanese side). It then describes, in terms that invite comparison with other cases of democratization, the main features of the context (cultural, social, economic, and international) in which they worked to lay the foundation for constitutional democracy.
Keywords: American Occupation, Constitution imposed, Charles Kades, Shidehara Kijurō, Douglas MacArthur, Potsdam Declaration, Yoshida Shigeru, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), Kanamori Tokujirō, Courtney Whitney