this essay quotes Takehiko Aoyagi’s argument that GHQ incorporated Japanese respect for law, readiness to apologize, humble self-reflection, sense of atonement, and emphasis on harmonious community relationships into the WGIP, thereby creating a voluntary self-denigrating view of history. It also examines studies of Japan by Ruth Benedict, D. C. Holtom, and Geoffrey Gorer, and connects that intellectual structure to NHK reporting.

This essay is a continuation of “How Japan’s Self-Denigrating View of History Was Formed, Amplified, and Reproduced,” published on August 29, 2020.
It continues quoting from Takehiko Aoyagi’s paper, “Japan’s Greatest Enemy Is Its Self-Denigrating View of History: Let Us Escape the Spell of the WGIP,” specifically the section arguing that the United States studied Japanese psychology and culture and used the results to formulate the WGIP.
Aoyagi argues that inherently admirable Japanese qualities—respect for law, readiness to apologize, humble self-reflection, a sense of atonement, and a community consciousness that values friendship and harmony—were exploited to establish a lasting sense of war guilt.
At the same time, he argues, traditional sentiments capable of fostering patriotism were eliminated in order to prevent Japan from reemerging as a major power.
The concluding commentary connects this intellectual structure to NHK personnel and NHK reporting.

2020-08-29
How the WGIP Exploited Japanese Virtues to Create a Self-Denigrating View of History—GHQ’s Study of Japan, War Guilt, and the Structure of Psychological Disarmament
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
■ The WGIP Incorporated the Virtues of the Japanese People
That indoctrination policy was named the WGIP—the War Guilt Information Program, or “Sensō Zaiakukan Jōhō Keikaku” in Japanese.¹
¹ The Japanese rendering of WGIP as “Sensō Zaiakukan Jōhō Keikaku” is the author’s own translation.
“Guilt” means “an awareness that one is oneself guilty.”
The reason the United States became so intensely determined—almost as though it were repeatedly proclaiming, “We did nothing wrong; Japan was to blame”—must have been that it felt considerable guilt about the circumstances that led to the war, the massive air raids, and the subsequent dropping of the atomic bombs.
It must also have felt considerable fear of Japan’s military strength and the intensity of its resistance.
In formulating the WGIP, the United States collected papers on Japan and commissioned a number of additional scholars to undertake research projects on Japanese psychology and culture as a whole.
Among the contributors were Ruth Benedict, author of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword; D. C. Holtom, a scholar of Japanese Shinto; and the British social anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer.
Their studies of Japan were, in their own way, substantial and penetrating works, although some parts now appear somewhat misguided and difficult to understand.
GHQ made full use of the results of these studies of Japan when it formulated the WGIP.
It incorporated with extraordinary skill such Japanese virtues as respect for law, a readiness to apologize honorably, humble self-reflection, a spirit of atonement, and an emphasis on relationships within the community—an emphasis on friendship and the peaceful avoidance of conflict.
This successfully penetrated the minds of conscientious Japanese people and emerged as a voluntary, self-denigrating view of history.
However, traditional sentiments that might have led to patriotism, such as “avenging a wrong” and “restoring one’s family house,” were thoroughly eliminated.
The purpose was to prevent Japan from reemerging as a major power in the world.
To be continued.
＊Every perceptive person should recognize that the passages I have emphasized describe the very intellectual structure of NHK employees represented by Arima and his associates—or, indeed, NHK’s reporting itself.