’This Degrading Slavery’: MacArthur’s General Headquarters and Prostitution Policy during the Occupation of Japan

During the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945–52) one of the most vexing issues facing Occupation authorities was prostitution, which had historically enjoyed widespread acceptance. Many Allied personnel patronized prostitutes. Venereal disease was common among prostitutes and increasingly among GIs. The Occupation outlawed the old imperial system of licensed prostitution because of its reliance on human trafficking but never outlawed prostitution outright. This apparent contradiction led many writers to condemn the Occupation as hypocritical. Nevertheless, the Occupation’s decisions were consistent with its commitment to individual autonomy and its understanding of the situation in Japan, an understanding which was essentially accurate.