eli5: How Did Japan and America Go From Enemies to Allies So Quickly?

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I’m trying to wrap my head around how the USA and Japan shifted from being fierce enemies during World War II to becoming close allies in just a few decades. It seems like a huge turnaround in international relations from an American perspective. What happened and why this dramatic change?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Tangentially related, but, as an American knowing very little of WWII history outside of Pearl Harbor/Hiroshima/Nagasaki/Okinawa, visiting, and inevitably moving to Tokyo has been a trip. It’s amazing to me just how much the Japanese sincerely love Americans. At first it was just conversations I’d have with younger people, but even the much, much older generation you will very often see walking around wearing US military jean jackets with flags and patches and old US warships on them. Economically, something about Japan not needing to spend nearly as much on “defense” as America does is probably a part of why they have such great infrastructure and healthcare.

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