General MacArthur Writes Letter To Minister About Bringing Christianity To Post-War Japan, 1949
General MacArthur with Emperor Hirohito of Japan, September 17, 1945
General MacArthur sought to fill post-war Japan's "spiritual vacuum" with religious and quasi-religious beliefs from Christianity to Freemasonry, as an antidote to communism. He made efforts to persuade missionaries to intensify their efforts, even encouraging mass conversions to Catholicism. He believed that there was a complete collapse of faith of Japan in 1945 - in their military, in the Emperor, and in the religion that had become "state Shinto." In the letter, sent on September 8, 1949 to a Protestant Minister in Green River, Wyoming, MacArthur reiterates his interest in bringing Christanity to Japan and his support for the establishment of a Christian University. On SCAP stationary, signed "Douglas MacArthur"
