Striving to fill voids in Hiroshima, Chugoku Shimbun and the press code — Surveillance of articles with A-bombing content, Part 1: Only article found in violation censored as formality due to “MacArthur” reference
Sep. 20, 2023
Immediately after the occupation of Japan had begun, the U.S.-led General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ) imposed a press code that was designed to control the media. Gaps still exist in our understanding of the system of censorship, which was carried out skillfully and rigidly with the aim of implementing occupation policies and gauging ideological trends. What was it about the atomic bombing that unnerved the United States at that time? This series of articles will attempt to understand the reality of the situation by examining the censorship of articles with A-bombing content published by the Chugoku Shimbun, a newspaper based in the A-bombed Hiroshima.
In the reference room of materials on constitutional government in the National Diet Library, located in Tokyo’s Nagata-cho, the Chugoku Shimbun looked into each of the microfilm archives of the newspaper for any signs of censorship. The materials are stored at the University of Maryland’s Gordon W. Prange Collection, an archive of publications collected by the GHQ for purposes of censorship. There are an estimated 26 million articles in 1.7 million pages of newspapers, including those at a national level.
“Disapproved” by censorship post-publication
The Chugoku Shimbun examined the materials with the assistance of Luli van der Does, associate professor at the Hiroshima University Center for Peace and a specialist in social and memory-related sciences. We uncovered 1,505 of the newspaper’s articles with A-bombing content published between March 1946, when the GHQ censorship system first went into effect, and the end of October 1949, when the system ended. As a result of the survey, it was found that 679 articles, or 45.1% of the total, had been censored.
Among the censored articles, only one included a GHQ statement specifying that the article was in violation of the press code. The article, appearing on the second page of the July 22, 1946, edition, was composed of only 12 lines.
The article’s headline read “Hiroshima City Asks General MacArthur for Permission to Request Worldwide Assistance through Religious and Philanthropic Organizations.”
The main body of the article reported that, to elicit sympathy and support from abroad for reconstruction of the city, Hiroshima Mayor Shichiro Kihara had written to General Douglas MacArthur requesting his support in calling on the world’s people for donations through religious organizations and philanthropic organizations to help in the creation of a peaceful and cultural city. The communication was provided to Major Harbin Satten, advisor for the city’s reconstruction, on the afternoon of July 20. Major Satten was described as planning to take the request to “Ma, general headquarters (GHQ),” in Tokyo on July 22 of that year, 1946.
The three-page statement notifying the Chugoku Shimbun of the press-code violation was sent from the third branch (based in Fukuoka City) of the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD), a body that been tasked with censorship under the auspices of the GHQ. One of the pages contained an English translation of the article and details of the censorship — “DISAPPROVED; Petition to MacArthur.”
Articles appearing in national newspapers and other publications were censored prior to their publication, in what was called “pre-print censorship,” and those that were designated as being disapproved were deleted. Because articles published in the Chugoku Shimbun, like those of other regional newspapers, were censored after they had been published, known as “post-print censorship,” the disapproval appeared to take the form of an instruction warning the newspaper to be more careful in the future. Nevertheless, in light of the press code’s 10 articles, which included prohibitions against criticism and the like aimed at the GHQ, it is unclear why the contents of the article in question were deemed to be a violation.
Key Log guidelines
The reason turns out to be because of a censorship manual called the “Key Log,” which explained the press code in more detail. The log contained guidelines that included the demand that no reference be made to General MacArthur, the GHQ, Allied Forces, or the Supreme Command. In other words, disapproval of the article in question was a formality.
Opinions differ about the impact of the press code on coverage of the atomic bombing during the occupation period. Some have indicated that controls were severe, while others have claimed the restrictions were not. Was the article in question really the only one published by the Chugoku Shimbun to have been deemed in violation of the press code? As our investigation proceeded, we uncovered a report that had been put together by CCD branches for the upper levels of the organization outlining the cases of press-code violations. The report did not include any of the Chugoku Shimbun’s articles.
Under the censorship system, materials and newspapers were incinerated or otherwise disposed of to ensure that no traces of censorship remained. The possibility thus exists that other articles with A-bombing content were also deemed to be in violation of the press code. With that, it is extraordinarily difficult to assess the impact of the press code based on that one censored article.
Keywords
Key Log
A document prepared as reference for media censors. In addition to detailing the censorship policy of the press code, it listed about 30 items worthy of consideration, including references to or commentary on war criminals, labor strikes, and the emperor. Revisions to the document were made as needed.
This series is written by Kazuo Yabui, Appointed Senior Staff Writer of the Chugoku Shimbun.
(Originally published on September 20, 2023)
In the reference room of materials on constitutional government in the National Diet Library, located in Tokyo’s Nagata-cho, the Chugoku Shimbun looked into each of the microfilm archives of the newspaper for any signs of censorship. The materials are stored at the University of Maryland’s Gordon W. Prange Collection, an archive of publications collected by the GHQ for purposes of censorship. There are an estimated 26 million articles in 1.7 million pages of newspapers, including those at a national level.
“Disapproved” by censorship post-publication
The Chugoku Shimbun examined the materials with the assistance of Luli van der Does, associate professor at the Hiroshima University Center for Peace and a specialist in social and memory-related sciences. We uncovered 1,505 of the newspaper’s articles with A-bombing content published between March 1946, when the GHQ censorship system first went into effect, and the end of October 1949, when the system ended. As a result of the survey, it was found that 679 articles, or 45.1% of the total, had been censored.
Among the censored articles, only one included a GHQ statement specifying that the article was in violation of the press code. The article, appearing on the second page of the July 22, 1946, edition, was composed of only 12 lines.
The article’s headline read “Hiroshima City Asks General MacArthur for Permission to Request Worldwide Assistance through Religious and Philanthropic Organizations.”
The main body of the article reported that, to elicit sympathy and support from abroad for reconstruction of the city, Hiroshima Mayor Shichiro Kihara had written to General Douglas MacArthur requesting his support in calling on the world’s people for donations through religious organizations and philanthropic organizations to help in the creation of a peaceful and cultural city. The communication was provided to Major Harbin Satten, advisor for the city’s reconstruction, on the afternoon of July 20. Major Satten was described as planning to take the request to “Ma, general headquarters (GHQ),” in Tokyo on July 22 of that year, 1946.
The three-page statement notifying the Chugoku Shimbun of the press-code violation was sent from the third branch (based in Fukuoka City) of the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD), a body that been tasked with censorship under the auspices of the GHQ. One of the pages contained an English translation of the article and details of the censorship — “DISAPPROVED; Petition to MacArthur.”
Articles appearing in national newspapers and other publications were censored prior to their publication, in what was called “pre-print censorship,” and those that were designated as being disapproved were deleted. Because articles published in the Chugoku Shimbun, like those of other regional newspapers, were censored after they had been published, known as “post-print censorship,” the disapproval appeared to take the form of an instruction warning the newspaper to be more careful in the future. Nevertheless, in light of the press code’s 10 articles, which included prohibitions against criticism and the like aimed at the GHQ, it is unclear why the contents of the article in question were deemed to be a violation.
Key Log guidelines
The reason turns out to be because of a censorship manual called the “Key Log,” which explained the press code in more detail. The log contained guidelines that included the demand that no reference be made to General MacArthur, the GHQ, Allied Forces, or the Supreme Command. In other words, disapproval of the article in question was a formality.
Opinions differ about the impact of the press code on coverage of the atomic bombing during the occupation period. Some have indicated that controls were severe, while others have claimed the restrictions were not. Was the article in question really the only one published by the Chugoku Shimbun to have been deemed in violation of the press code? As our investigation proceeded, we uncovered a report that had been put together by CCD branches for the upper levels of the organization outlining the cases of press-code violations. The report did not include any of the Chugoku Shimbun’s articles.
Under the censorship system, materials and newspapers were incinerated or otherwise disposed of to ensure that no traces of censorship remained. The possibility thus exists that other articles with A-bombing content were also deemed to be in violation of the press code. With that, it is extraordinarily difficult to assess the impact of the press code based on that one censored article.
Keywords
Key Log
A document prepared as reference for media censors. In addition to detailing the censorship policy of the press code, it listed about 30 items worthy of consideration, including references to or commentary on war criminals, labor strikes, and the emperor. Revisions to the document were made as needed.
This series is written by Kazuo Yabui, Appointed Senior Staff Writer of the Chugoku Shimbun.
(Originally published on September 20, 2023)
