reel index - ProQuest

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed September 8, 1951, in San Francisco,
California, officially ended the Second World War and effectively established a
permanent U.S. presence in Northeast Asia. Confidential U.S. State Department
Special Files Northeast Asia, First Supplement, 1945–1966, chronicles the Japanese
postwar economic miracle, including Japan’s global integration, along with the
outbreak of hostilities on the Korean peninsula and the ongoing diplomatic and
military struggle between Chinese Nationalists in Taiwan and Communists on
China’s mainland.
The collection opens with the Japanese Peace Treaty, particularly focused on the
international response and Japan’s efforts at reconciliation with Asian neighbors it
had once occupied. National Security Council papers document the critical role of the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) in fostering economic recovery in
Japan to fortify vital U.S. cold war interests (Reel 1, Frame 0885). Reel 2 is solely
devoted to Military Assistance Program files, covering Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
The Far Eastern Commission (FEC), established in December 1945, administered
the U.S. occupation of Japan, setting policy and reforming the Japanese Constitution
(Reel 3, Frames 0001–0230, 0595–0692).
Focus narrows to the U.S. occupation of the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa,
in Reel 4. Reforms that integrated cooperation in Japan between the government and
private industry spurred the establishment of the Ryukyu Life Insurance Company,
Ltd. and the Ryukyu Warehouse Corporation (Reel 5, Frames 0001–0797). Loaning
practices at the Bank of the Ryukyus, common throughout postwar Japan, led to the
rise of keiretsu (Reel 4, Frames 0617–0850).
Lists and dossiers of soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war from the
Korean Conflict compose Reels 7–9. With over 8,100 American soldiers missing in
action, the United States relied heavily on the International Committee of the Red
Cross to provide information in the years following the war (Reel 8, Frames 0466–
0763).
Beginning with Frame 0258 on Reel 9, Special Files Northeast Asia covers myriad
miscellany, from legislative and legal affairs to visas to aid and finance. Reels 11 and
12 are mainly comprised of political affairs, covering international diplomatic
recognition for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), foreign relations between the
Republic of China (ROC) and over a dozen states in Europe, the Middle East, and
Asia, as well as extensive materials on diplomatic visits and meetings throughout
1964 (Reel 11, Frame 0457–Reel 12, Frame 0109). This collection offers pervasive
coverage of PRC attempts to win diplomatic recognition in the United Nations (UN),
ultimately culminating in the passage of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 in
October 1971 (Frames 0431–0816 of Reel 11). With the ROC expulsion from all UN
organs, including the Security Council, the PRC assumed its seat at the UN.
Japanese economic development emerges at the end of Reel 12. Rapid economic
liberalization prompted Japan to join GATT in 1963, the IMF, and OECD in 1964,
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