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FOREIGN OFFICE FILES FOR JAPAN AND THE FAR EAST
Series Two: British Foreign Office Files for Post-War Japan, 1952-1980
(Public Record Office Classes FO 371 and FCO 21)

Part 1: Complete Files for 1952-1953
(PRO Class FO 371/98985-98992, 99013, 99198-99200, 99218, 99227, 99264, 99315, 99388-99542, 99560 & 105361-105464)

"It is most welcome news that the files on Japan from the Public Record Office for the years 1952-1962 are now available on microfilm. Students of post-World War II Japanese foreign affairs, international relations, the Cold War, and US and UK foreign policies will find here a wealth of invaluable material. Historians have found Public Record Office documents the main starting point for their research, and, given the still undeveloped field of post-war Japanese history, these documents are certain to provide new data and fresh perspectives that will contribute enormously to our knowledge."
Akira Iriye, Professor of History, Harvard University

This collection of documents covers the crucial period of Japanese development from the end of the Allied Occupation in 1952, to the establishment of Japan as a major economic power in the early 1960s.

Making available for the first time Files only Recently Opened to Research, the material in this archive contains a wealth of information from the British Foreign Office Central Political Files concerning Japan. Drawing on Reports, Correspondence, Telegrams, Memoranda, Despatches, Official Instructions and Regular Communications between the Foreign Office and the British Embassy and Consulates in Japan, many of the most pressing issues of the day are discussed and appraised.

Subjects covered range in scope from Annual Reports and fortnightly summaries of events in Japan (for each year covered in the series), Japanese political, social and economic issues, to criminal jurisdiction over UN forces in Japan, foreign relations and territorial disputes. Parts 1-4 of this microfilm project will offer complete files for 1952-1962.

"These British archives provide invaluable analyses of Japan’s social, economic and political development, and fully document her changing relations with Britain and the Commonwealth."
Dr Gordon Daniels, Reader in Modern Far Eastern History, University of Sheffield
and President of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists

Part 1 covers files for 1952-1953, the years that saw the resumption of full national sovereignty for Japan and efforts to boost national productivity in order to catch up with the West. Specific files for this period include:

1952 -
- Japanese Politics
- Japanese Communist Party: campaign of violence and sabotage against the Police, occupation installations and communications systems
- International attitudes towards Japan and her policies
- Anglo-US differences over Japan
- Eisenhower’s visit to Japan in December 1952
- US relations with Japan; visit to Japan by US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
- British Iron and Steel Corporation purchases of Japanese steel
- Japanese-Korean negotiations for the settlement of mutual relations
- Japan’s relations with China and Formosa
- Japan’s trade relations with countries in South East Asia
- Japan and GATT
- "Depurging" by the new reviewing authority set up to determine qualification for public office
- British Iron and Steel Corporation purchases of Japanese steel
- "Bases problem" - US and UN troops still in Japan;
- Growth of Anti-American feeling in Japan; presence of many troops because of Korean War

1953 -
- Political relations between Japan and Nationalist and Communist China
- Visit of HM Consul in Formosa to Tokyo
- Economic reports on Japan, December 1952 to November 1953
- Five-year economic plan for Japan designed to increase overall production by 70%
- UN forces in Japan: facilities and status
- Political relations between Japan and the United States
- Social welfare legislation: Emancipation of Japanese women, tendency of the Japanese social security system to restrain the development of Communism

Scholars and Researchers can examine Yoshida’s success in implementing the Security Treaty with the United States, the conversion of the National Police Reserve into the National Security Force, the fulfilment of his undertaking to John Foster Dulles to conclude a Peace Treaty with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists on Formosa, the passage of the Subversive Activities Law, the important role of Chief Justice Tanaka Kotaro and understand the development of Japan’s post-war industrial strength through the wealth of evidence assembled in these British files.

The following two extracts give an impression of some of the other material:

FO 371/105462: Description of a Tour of the Island of Hokkaido by Sir Esler Dening, HM Ambassador to Japan in his long letter to the Marquess of Salisbury at the Foreign Office, 11 August 1953:

"I paid my first visit to the island of Hokkaido on July 17, accompanied by Mr Third Secretary Bentley. During my tour, which lasted a fortnight, I managed to cover a good deal of territory. The trains are slow and the roads on the whole are bad, so that more time was spent in getting from one place to another than would be the case in the main island of Japan.... On July 19 we went by train to Asahigawa, the centre of a large agricultural area, and, after lunching with the Mayor and dignitaries, we drove to some hot springs at Sounkyo 40 miles away, where we spent two nights. The place is remarkable for its scenic beauty, which is, however, somewhat marred by extensive hydro-electric construction going on there..."

FO 371/99404: Letter from John Foster Dulles to the Prime Minister (Winston Churchill), 17 January 1952:

"I have just come from the Capitol where I heard your magnificent address. I greatly appreciated your reference to the Japanese Peace Treaty which, largely due to my conception, became a UK-US co-sponsored document and we presented a common front which largely explains the world following we obtained. I am sorry that in the last day or two there has developed some misunderstanding between our Governments with reference to Japan’s China Policy; but this does not alter my deep conviction which, indeed, I hold in relation to this matter, that we should strive increasingly for a common position..."

Full contents of reel information is available on the first reel of each part. The paperback guide covers Parts 1-4 of this microfilm project which provides complete files for each year for the period 1952-1962.



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