Japan’s sports diplomacy in the early post-Second World War years

This essay outlines key cases of sports diplomacy practiced by Japan with the assistance of the Allied Occupation Authorities after the Second World War. Both Japan and the occupation overlord employed sports to good effect as a tool for reshaping Japan’s national image as one of a rule-abiding civilized society and buttressing the idea of US–Japanese friendship during the Cold War. Both amateur and professional sports heroes played a part in these binational efforts.