In Visions of Democracy and Peace in Occupied Japan, Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti examines American occupation of Japan during World War II and the evolution of Japan's political parties to highlight the country's struggles for a democratic and peaceful "Japanese Japan." Using a dynamic analysis approach, Galanti examines the pre-war, pro-democratic ideals and legacies that built Japan's political parties and the parties' evolving views on regime matters, socioeconomic structure, international relations, and security both during and after the country's occupation by American forces.

Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti heads the Berl Katznelson Chair for the Study of the Labor Movement and is senior lecturer in the Social Science and Civics Department at Beit-Berl College, research fellow at the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and chair of the Israeli Association for Japanese Studies.

In Visions of Democracy and Peace in Occupied Japan, Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti examines American occupation of Japan during World War II and the evolution of Japan's political parties to highlight the country's struggles for a democratic and peaceful Japanese Japan. Using a dynamic analysis approach, Galanti examines the pre-war, pro-democratic ideals and legacies that built Japan's political parties and the parties' evolving views on regime matters, socioeconomic structure, international relations, and security both during and after the country's occupation by American forces.

Chapter One: The Dilemma of Postwar Japan: A Washington-Made or a Homemade State?

Part One: Background Data for Discussing Occupied Japan's Visions

Chapter Two: American Inconsistency

Chapter Three: Modern Imperial Japan's Pro-Democratic Legacies

Chapter Four: The Main Parties of Occupied Japan

Part Two: Dynamism of Visions (with Alon Lewkowitz)

Chapter Five: Ratifying a Dictated Constitution

Chapter Six: To Rearm or Not to Rearm? That is the Question

Chapter Seven: Adopting an American Peace

Epilogue

Chapter Eight: Japanized Visions of Democracy and Peace