Media Censorship in Occupied Japan

During the first four years of the Occupation of Japan (1945-1952), Japanese media was subject to censorship organized by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). With the United States as the driving force, the SCAP established the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD), a censorship unit that monitored all print publications issued in Japan. These publications that went through the CCD’s censorship operation now consist of the Gordon W. Prange Collection, housed in Special Collections and University Archives, at the UMD Libraries. 

In this talk, Kana Jenkins provides an overview of the Prange Collection holdings and discusses the importance of understanding the media censorship carried out in Occupied Japan. Censorship during the Occupation of Japan differs in many respects from the issue of banned books in the United States. Yet, the two share one important similarity; in both cases, the freedom to read has been constrained by pressure from a third party. As a part of Banned Books Week, Kana invites everyone to learn about the Allies’ media censorship in Occupied Japan, and to reflect on book banning in today’s United States. 

Kana Jenkins is Curator of Gordon W. Prange Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, at the UMD Libraries. Kana assists the UMD faculty members, students and researchers around the world for their research as well as teaching activities on the Allied Occupation of Japan. Kana also provides education, research and collection support for multidisciplinary studies related to East Asian Studies as East Asian Studies Subject Librarian.