Purge (occupied Japan)

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Following Japan's defeat in World War II, the Allied Occupation of Japan ordered the purge of tens of thousands of designated persons from public service positions. Individuals targeted in the purge included accused war criminals, military officers, leaders of ultranationalist societies, leaders in the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, business leaders involved in Japanese overseas economic expansion, governors of former Japanese colonies, and national leaders involved in the decisions leading Japan into war.^[1] Ultimately, SCAP screened a total of 717,415 possible purgees, and wound up excluding 201,815 of them from holding public office.^[2] However, as part of the "Reverse Course" in Occupation policy, most of the purgees would be de-purged and allowed to return to public life by 1951.

This purge of conservative elements during the Occupation is sometimes retroactively referred to as the "White Purge" to distinguish it from a similar "Red Purge" of communists and leftists.