This page is only one of many thousands of Gotheborg.com Help and Information Pages, offering specialized knowledge on Chinese and Japanese Porcelain, including a Glossary, Q&A, Chinese and Japanese Porcelain Marks, Chinese Porcelain Exhibition and Excavation reports etc. For personal help and far more information, join our Discussion Board or use 'Ask a Question' for quick email consultations. For full text and better navigation, use a full-screen device rather than a mobile phone, that offers only limited content.
Hi, who occupied Japan, and when?
Why did they put "occupied" on the tag or label? Is this their way of saying, hell with you all, you can occupy us, but you can't stop us from making goods?
Or is there some other reason for this?
Trusting that you are serious, I will try to briefly answer your question. After W.W.II, the Allies (the winners of the war - in particular, the USA) "occupied" the conquered countries (i.e., Japan). According to my reference, Mr. Robert Gee, the originator of the Occupied Japan Collectors Club, the Occupation consisted of approximately 130,000 Americans (both military and civilian) and about 35,000 British Troops based in Japan. SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers), led by General MacArthur, wrote a new constitution for Japan.
Most of Japan had been devastated by the war and needed to rebuild its economy. Part of the agreement for Japan to be allowed to produce and export items in order to rebuild, was that 50% of all exported items had to bear the mark "Occupied Japan" or "Made in Occupied Japan." This condition existed between 1945 and 1952 - the actual years of the Occupation. The tags, labels, marks were placed on the items in Japan, before they were exported to other countries.
I hope this answers your questions. If you have any others, please feel free to contact me.
Respectfully,
Ms. Sam Armijo
foxisam@peoplepc.com
Back to Gotheborg.com Home Page