The US Medical Occupation of Japan and History of the Japanese-Language Edition of JAMA

Abstract

Beginning with the Allied Occupation in August 1945, US General Douglas MacArthur came to possess greater authority than Hirohito, Emperor of Japan. Similarly, in the field of medicine, Crawford F. Sams (Figure 1), Colonel of the Medical Corps of the US Army, had greater power than the Minister of Welfare of the Japanese government. Born in East St Louis, Ill, in 1902, Sams was the son of a lawyer who died when Sams was an adolescent. He attended Washington University Medical School in St Louis, Mo, and graduated fourth in his class while working at night for the St Louis office of the Great Northern Railroad.1During the Second World War, Sams served in North Africa, Europe, and Washington. Prior to the end of the Pacific War, MacArthur recruited Sams to assume the post of Chief, Public Health and Welfare Section (PHW), Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP)