…the Japanese version of World War II may generally be described as a “victim’s history,” in which the Japanese people were seen as helpless victims of a corrupt and evil conspiracy between their government and military. This “victim’s history” is partly due to the collaborative American-Japanese efforts under the Occupation to create an image of a postwar democratic Japan that would free the Japanese from an inescapable fascist and militarist past. By shifting the burden of responsibility for a devastating war on the military and the government, it was felt that the slate could be wiped clean and Japan could undertake the task of rebuilding, liberated from the dark shadows of war guilt and recrimination.