Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

92 • GRANT, ULYSSES S.
United States established two major funds to handle reconstruction
costs in postwar occupied areas: the Government Aid and Relief in
Occupied Area (GARIOA) fund and the Economic Rehabilitation in
Occupied Area (EROA) fund. Japan received money for relief and reconstruction
from both funds, first from the GARIOA fund starting in
1946 and then from the EROA fund starting in 1949. The total amount
received was $1.8 billion, of which $1.3 billion were provided interest
free. These counterpart funds (profits from selling commodities
bought by GARIOA and EROA funds) became capital sources of lowinterest
loans to be used for funding such economic recovery activities
as currency stability and investment in national infrastructure
(railroads, electric power generation and communications, marine
transportation, and coal mining). The United States and Japan concluded
an agreement in 1962 that stipulated that Japan would repay
the aid provided by the two funds by giving aid to developing countries
and subsidizing Japan–U.S. cultural exchange activities. See also
PACIFIC WAR.
GRANT, ULYSSES S. (1822–1885). General in the Union Army during
the American Civil War and president of the United States from
1869 to 1877. After serving two terms as president, during which he
met with members of the Iwakura Mission, Grant and his wife Julia
took a long-planned world tour for the next two years. Hailed as the
hero of the American Civil War and treated as if he were a visiting
head of state wherever he went in Europe and Asia, Grant arrived in
Japan in early 1879 and spent several months in the country. They
were treated exceptionally well in Japan, in part because Japanese
leaders wanted to gain international respect by demonstrating to the
former American president that their country had significantly progressed
in many areas of political, social, and cultural life. While in
Japan, Grant was asked to arbitrate a dispute over possession of Okinawa
between Japan and China, and he decided in Japan’s favor. In
discussions with Emperor Meiji and other Japanese leaders, Grant
made it clear he believed Japan to be an equal to the United States
and Europe and wished the Ansei Treaties, also known as the “unequal
treaties,” forced on Japan in the 1850s to be revised on an equitable
basis.