Publication and Censorship of Popular Song During the Allied Occupation of Japan, 1945-1949

Abstract

During the Allied Occupation of Japan, General MacArthur's SCAP administration ran a system of censorship of all publications and public broadcasts, lasting from September 1945 through late 1949. Included in the censored publications were sheet music and hit song collections of ryukoka and doyo, popular songs and children's songs. The Gordon W. Prange Collection at the University of Maryland holds an extensive collection of the proofs and publications that the censors collected, complete with their markings if material was to be deleted or suppressed. The sentiments expressed in the collection of songs in general, and in the items that censors marked for deletions, reflect the new cultural hegemony of the Occupation. Publishers and censors both contributed to the reinforcement of hegemonic ideas, through the addition and removal of specific sentiments from the popular discourse of the time.