Embracing the Enemy: How Henry Luce used his Time, Inc. Media Empire from 1944 to 1950 to Persuade Americans to Embrace Japan as a Key Cold War Ally

Abstract

This thesis assesses the role of Henry Robinson Luce, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Time, Inc. media empire, in convincing the American public to soften their perceptions towards Japan following the racial hatred propagated during World War Two. In doing so, it argues that Luce, in coordination with high level government officials and business leaders, made a concerted and successful effort through his most popular magazine, Life, to make Americans see Japan as an important ally in the fight against communist encroachment in the Far East during the Cold War, as well as a country opened to the spread of Christianity, and a viable and lucrative new market for American business interests. The research is based on a close study of Luce’s calculated use of advocacy, changes in language, repetition, calculated symbolism, and terminology throughout Life magazine from 1944 to 1950, combined with public opinion polls and conversations between Luce and elite Washington policy makers. It imputes significant influence on Luce in persuading Americans to embrace the Japanese due to the massive circulation of Time, Inc. publications and the wide-ranging demographics of Life’s readers in particular. By 1945 Time Inc. publications had a combined readership of thirty million Americans and Life was the most popular magazine in America, read by 13.5 million people – ten percent of the population. Life was Luce’s main conduit to the general population of the U.S. and readers abroad. Due to this wide reach, this thesis deduces significant influence from Luce and Time Inc. but also acknowledges it was part of a larger media ecosystem reporting on similar topics and themes at the time. This thesis concludes Luce used Life to publish editorials, articles from outside contributors, photojournalism, and curated letters to the editor to successfully persuade Americans to embrace the Japanese in a remarkably short period of time. Through these various aspects of Life, Luce seized on feelings of guilt and sympathy felt by Americans due to the destruction wrought by the use of atomic bombs, appealed to Americans’ inherent Christian values, and rehabilitated the image of Hirohito so he could be used as an American-approved puppet in the postwar occupation of Japan. Public polling conducted between 1945 and 1950 highlighted the positive change in attitudes amongst Americans towards the Japanese within only five years of being bitter enemies and confirms the success of Luce’s coordinated campaign of persuasion.