The purpose of this paper is to examine how the occupiers and occupied encountered in Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) through the case study of "Dependents Housing (DH)". In order to accommodate the influx of military personnel and their family, Japanese government was ordered in 1946 to construct 20,000 new housing units. While the traditional studies focused on "public", I.e., political economy, legal, military or diplomatic aspects of occupation, this case study will look into daily living space, “private sphere", created in DH where the family members of occupation forces and local workers such as house maids worked together. Close photographic examination of white housewives and Japanese workers reveals interesting power dynamics played out between the two different cultural groups. We tend to assume that the former had power over the latter and taught "proper" cooking, bed-making, or child-care to the "lesser" being. However, the use of chopsticks, "ikebana" flower arrangement, among others, reversed the subject/object of teaching role. Another interesting example is the separation of maid’s restroom from military family’s toilet/bath. We can ask if it is the importation of American racial/class distinction, separating white homeowner and non-white servant in the US, or the continuation of Japanese upper-class per-war architectural design.

Authors:
Kazuto Oshio, Sophia University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Kazuto Oshio is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at Sophia University in Japan

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