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World War II: primary sources

World War II (Pacific theater)

Wartime translations of seized Japanese documents [microform]: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section reports, 1942-1946

An index to and reproduction of several large collections of translated Japanese documents, including diaries, military orders, maps, technical manuals, and reports based on interrogations of prisoners. On ATIS records in the National Archives, see 331.37 Records of Organizations of General Headquarters U.S. Army.

MAGIC documents [microform]: summaries and transcripts of the top secret diplomatic communications of Japan, 1938-1945
Originals held at the National Archives, Record Group 457, Records of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. See http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/457.html. The documents in this collection are Japanese diplomatic communications intercepted and decoded by the U.S. See http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/
3254_CalendarMagicDocuments.pdf

Intelligence series [microform] / General Headquarters, Far East Command, Military Intelligence Section, General Staff
Originally published by the U.S. Army, this series describes intelligence activities in Asia under MacArthur, 1942-1950. Note that Microfilm 05680, A Brief history of the G-2 Section, GHQ, SWPA and affiliated units, is a useful introduction to this series.

Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [microform]
This collection "includes the intelligence gathering, military reporting, and various draft plans out of which U.S. military and political policy arose." The collection is organized geographically. On Asia: pt. 1. 1942-1945: [A] The Pacific theater (14 reels); pt. 2. 1946-1953 [C] The Far East (14 reels); pt. 3. 1954-1960: [A] The Far East (22 reels). Note that we also have the rest of this collection.

U.S. Navy case files of Pacific area war crimes, 1944-1949 [microform]
 

U.S. occupation of Japan

Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949  
"This collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relating to internal and foreign affairs contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats."

Documents concerning the Allied occupation and control of Japan [microform]
Consists of v. 1. Basic documents.--v. 2. Political, military and cultural.--v. 3. Financial, economic and reparations.--v. 4. Commercial and industrial.--v. 5. Civil property.--v. 6. Aliens.

Educational reform in Japan, 1945-1952 [microform]
A selection of documents from U.S. and Japanese sources "that record the planning and implementation of educational reforms during the Occupation of Japan."

Framing the constitution of Japan [microform]: primary sources in English, 1944-1949
A collection of documents "related to planning, drafting, enactment, and promulgation of the Constitution of 1947." The documents were drawn from various U.S. archives. Includes English translations of Japanese documents.

Occupation of Japan [microform]
"This microfiche collection makes available significant U.S. Government documents and some private papers ... related directly or indirectly to the U.S. occupation of Japan." Consists of Pt. 1. U.S. planning documents, 1942-1945 (487 fiches); pt. 2. U.S. and Allied policy, 1945-1952 (466 fiches); and pt. 3. Reform, recovery and peace, 1945-52 (1134 fiches)

The occupation of Japan [microform]. Economic reform
Material from the Economic and Scientific Section of National Archives Record Group 331, Supreme Commander for Allied Powers (SCAP), Consists of: pt. 1. Deconcentration and modernization (651 fiches); pt. 2. Land reform, 1945-1952; Japan in the postwar world economy, 1945-1952 (518 fiches).

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers historical monographs, 1945-1951 [microform]: history of the nonmilitary activities of the occupation of Japan, volumes 1-55
Reproduces a series of reports written immediately after the occupation ended; the reports summarize the activities of the occupation and describe many aspects of life in Japan in this period.

Records of the Far Eastern Commission, 1945-1952 

"All the activities of the multinational Far Eastern Commission (FEC), which oversaw the postwar governing and reconstruction of Japan, are fully documented in this publication. The establishment of FEC was decided upon in late December 1945 at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers. It represented the Allied Powers led by the U.S., the U.K., China, and the U.S.S.R. as the top-level policy formulating body with regard to the occupation of Japan. The FEC was charged with the task of producing policies, principles, and criteria to which Japan would have to fully conform in order to implement the terms of surrender stipulated by the Potsdam Declaration." This collection duplicates:

Records of the Far Eastern Commission, 1945-1952 [microform]  All the activities of the multinational Far Eastern Commission (FEC), which oversaw the postwar governing and reconstruction of Japan

Justin Williams, Sr. papers, 1945-1952 [microform]
"Justin Williams, Sr. was chief of the Legislative Division (renamed Parliamentary Political Division in 1948) of the Government Section of SCAP from 1946-1952." From the Gordon W. Prange Collection at the University of Maryland at College Park.