The 18,047 newspaper titles in the Gordon W. Prange Collection constitute the largest anywhere, including Japan, of Japanese-language newspapers
published during the immediate postwar period. Within this collection are major dailies such as Asahi Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, and Yomiuri
Shinbun--including their local editions. The Collection also includes less frequently issued newspapers such as Kumamoto Minyu Shinbun, Nihon Fujin Shinbun
(Tokyo), Aoba Shinbun (Miyagi), Yakyujin (Tokyo), and Kanshiki Nyusu (Hyogo), as well as newsletters produced by political parties, labor unions, farming
cooperatives, literary societies, educational organizations, and students.
Included in the Newspaper Collection are 700,000 pages of news agency dispatches (tsushin) from such agencies as Kyodo and Jiji -- the Japanese
counterparts of the Associated Press and the United Press International.
The 10,000 photographs in the newspaper collection were submitted to the CCD for review by Sun, Kyodo and Jiji news service agencies. Each photograph is
accompanied by a news agency description.
The Precensored Article Collection consists of newspaper articles and news agency dispatches that were censored by the CCD prior to publication. The
articles bear censorship markings and are, in most cases, accompanied by an English translation.
The Newspaper Collection has been microfilmed in alphabetical order by romanized title. The microfilm reels are available in the East Asia Collection,
McKeldin Library (EASIA JPNMFO AP95.J2G67 1997) and at the Natonal Diet Library of Japan.
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The Prange Collection contains 13,799 magazine titles issued during the immediate post-World War II years, 1945-49.
The Magazine Collection has been microfilmed. The microfiche are available in the East Asia Collection, McKeldin Library (EASIA JPNREF PN5407.P4G67 1993)
and at the National Diet Library of Japan.
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There are approximately 71,000 book and pamphlet titles in the Prange Collection. The
monographs, published during the early post-War years, cover a wide range of subjects, including literature, history, economics, politics, agriculture, law,
science and technology, religion, philosophy, and education. Many of the works address issues faced in post-World War II Japan, such as the economic
restoration of Japan, extreme inflation, the effect of the new constitution, and the fundamental reform of the old primary and secondary school system. The
collection includes works by well-known writers such as Nobel laureate Kawabata Yasunari and Tanizaki Jun'ichiro.
The 9,000 children's books in this collection include picture books, comic books, folk tales, translations into Japanese of children's books in foreign
languages, and books of fiction and non-fiction for older children. These materials are a rich source for social and cultural history, for the study of
popular literature, and for an understanding of Japanese concerns for their children during the postwar period. Because the censors treated children's
publications with a relatively light hand, this is a freer literature than most of what was produced for adults during the same years. A catalog of the
Children's Book Collection is available in the East Asia Collection, McKeldin Library (EASIA JAREFO PL751.5.G67 1996 vol. 1).
The Book Collection contains 2,000 books of music. Of these, there are approximately 800 pieces of Western classical and popular music, 700 pieces of
Japanese popular music, and 500 pieces of Japanese traditional music.
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The Prange Collection contains 640 maps of Japan, East Asia and the world. It also contains posters that were used for educational and propaganda
purposes.
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The Papers of John R. Harold primarily concern the establishment of democratic labor practices in Japan during the Occupation. As Acting Chief of SCAP's
Labor Relations Branch of the Labor Division, John R. Harold was active in and responsible for Labor Education. The collection gives an overview of official
Allied Occupation labor policy as documented in memoranda, correspondence, reports, news dispatches, newspaper articles, pamphlets, and journals.
5 microfilm reels; Call no.: MCKPER MFILM HD8726.5.H37 1998
The Charles L. Kades Papers deal with the formation of the Japanese Constitution of 1947. Kades, Deputy Director of the Government Section of SCAP during
the Occupation of Japan, played a leading role in drafting a model constitution for the Japanese. His papers are divided into two parts. Part A begins with
the tentative revision of the Meiji Constitution of Joji Matsumoto (January 4, 1946) and continues with successive drafts of the Japanese constitution,
concluding with the U.S.
Department of State publication of the final version of the constitution of Japan (effective May 3, 1947). Japanese and English versions of most drafts are
included here. Part B includes memoranda, committee minutes, letters, check sheets, and an imperial message regarding the revision of the Japanese
constitution.
Photocopy and index; Call no.: MCKPRG STACKS JQ1611.K23 1946
The Justin Williams Papers Justin Williams, Sr. was chief of the Legislative Division (renamed Parliamentary Political Division in 1948) of the Government Section of SCAP from
1946-1952. He made a significant contribution to the political reorientation of Japan during the Occupation period. He oversaw matters pertaining to
national government, local governments, political parties, and national elections. His major responsibilities were to strengthen the Diet so that it could
assume its role as the highest organ of state power under the new constitution; to keep General MacArthur informed on Japanese politics
and elections; and to ensure Diet enactment of legislation desired by SCAP. His papers fully document the undertaking of these duties.
43 microfilm reels; Call no.: MCKPER MFILM JQ1611.W56 1992
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In addition to the Personal Papers described above, the Prange Collection contains miscellaneous English-language materials from the Occupation period.
The vast majority of these materials are not unique to the Prange Collection. Included are: ATIS (Allied Translator and Interpreter Service) press translations, a copy of the proceedings of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, numerous
issues of BCON (British Commonwealth Occupation News, which the UM Libraries' also have on microfilm), summaries prepared by SCAP of non-military
activities, United States Strategic Bombing Survey documents, translations of interrogation reports, and more.
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