presence of any other country in Japan; 3. U.S. had the right to intervene in any domestic conflicts in Japan; 4. U.S. had the right to use military power from any of their bases in Japan without first gaining the consent of Japan; and 5. This treaty had an indefinite time period (Pyle, 235, 236). Several of the subsequent Prime Ministers after Yoshida were of the “Yoshida School” and thus followed the guidelines of the Yoshida Doctrine in their efforts to improve Japan’s economy, as well as to prevent any re-armament on the part of Japan. Ikeda Hayato and Sato Eisaku were two such prime ministers, in whom we can see the strength of Yoshida’s legacy.It is obvious that the Yoshida priority of economic strength and rehabilitation was one of the guiding ideals for Ikeda. To say that Ikeda Hayato’s economic plan for Japan was successful would be a gross understatement. Ikeda came to power after Kishi was forced to resign in 1960. His “National Income Doubling Plan” was supposed to double the GNP within a ten-year period through a 7.2 percent growth rate. But in actuality, the growth rate climbed to almost 12 percent, thus far surpassing the hopes of Ikeda, and helping Japan to become an economic superpower.In Sato’s term as Prime Minister we can see that the Yoshida ideal of pacifism was also a primary goal for Sato. During his term, Sato formulated 3 principles against nuclear weapon for Japan to uphold. These were that Japan would not possess, make, or allow nuclear weapons into the country. Also, Sato passed into law a ban on exporting weapons. He also started the practice of not allowing more than 1 percent of the GNP to be spent on maintaining a military.To conclude, Yoshida was probably the most influential of all the key players in shaping postwar Japan. Yoshida’s Doctine introduced the principles that became the guidelines in strengthening Japan during the entire post-w...
