One of those changes included mandatory education. During the 1950's children were legally bound to attend school between the ages of six and 15 years old. By the time the 1950's came to an end not only were families complying with that law but were also voluntarily sending most of their children on to college.
It was an era that valued education and realized the way to become a power hitter in the world global business markets.
A typical day in the life of a man or woman in Japan during the 1950's would include getting up each morning and eating breakfast, while preparing to go to work. The children would get ready to go to school and everyone would leave the house. Women at that time, just like in other parts of the world were not treated with the same respect and honor that men were treated so they were often relegated to factor positions or other menial jobs (American Occupation and the Military Bases (http://www.uchinanchu.org/uchinanchu/history_american.htm).
There was freedom of speech, however, anti-American words could get one arrested or at least detained for questioning.
The military for Japan was a thing of the past and the new constitution prevented the nation from ever having another paid military force, therefore during the 1950's attention turned to other ways to become important in the world.
Men and women during that time became tuned into the importance of technology, in particular the automobile market.
Part of the occupation ruling was that Japan could no longer develop aircraft or an airline industry, as punishment for its attack on Pearl Harbor, therefore its society turned to the automobile industry to compete in the world market of technology (American Occupation and the Military Bases (http://www.uchinanchu.org/uchinanchu/history_american.htm).
The family would all gather again by evening and share a meal before perhaps heading out to see a jazz festival performance. Japanese music has long been known for it flute and harp sounds but during the 1950's the nation enjoyed a jazz trend as well ("Ten Thousand Things" (http://www.kyotojournal.org/10,000things/056.html).
This may have been because of the military presence and the American love of jazz at the time, but whatever the reason it was not uncommon for jazz to be the music of choice in Japanese society during the 1950's ("Ten Thousand Things" (http://www.kyotojournal.org/10,000things/056.html).
Post Occupation Changes
The 1950's is an interesting decade for Japan as it was cut in half by the occupation following WWII. The occupation which began in 1945 ended in 1952. During the first two years of the decade the changes that the occupation had installed were legally biding and abided by. In 1952, however, the occupation came to an end and the nation had to step up and decide which occupation changes were to be kept and which were to be tossed aside (Japan (http://members.tripod.com/h_javora/jed1.htm).
The 1950's for Japan was like having a clean slate to begin with and be able to paint any picture desired, however, the people were ever mindful of the force and destruction America was capable of if it decided to come back and take over again (Japan (http://members.tripod.com/h_javora/jed1.htm).
After the restoration of full national sovereignty in 1952, Japan immediately began to modify some of the education changes introduced during the Occupation period. These modifications more clearly reflected Japanese ideas about education and educational structure. The Ministry of Education regained a great deal of power. School boards reverted to being appointed, rather than elected. A moral education course was reinstituted in modified form, despite substantial initial concern that it would lead to a reintroduction of prewar nationalism into the schools (Japan (http://members.tripod.com/h_javora/jed1.htm)."
It was during the 1950's that society in Japan brought increased demands on the education field as well as the field of technology.
Shortly after the war the nation saw a decrease in the birth rate however, but the mid-1950's that trend had reversed and there were many babies being born which meant a need for more education facilities (Japan (http://members.tripod.com/h_javora/jed1.htm).
One of the most controversial issues in the post occupation 1950s in Japan was the constitutional mandate that the nation not arm itself ever again. It was in the middle 1950s that the debate raged and was actually supported by the U.S. To amend the constitution to allow a military ability (Post-World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Japan).
The Allied occupation ended on April 28, 1952, when the terms of the Treaty of San Francisco went into effect. By the terms of the treaty, Japan regained its sovereignty, but lost many of its possessions from before World War II, including Korea, Taiwan, and Sakhalin (Post-World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Japan).It also lost control over a number of small islands in the Pacific which it administered as League of Nations Mandates, such as the Marianas and the Marshals (Post-World...
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