Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14, 1945, when the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration (the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender). The Allied Occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth.

Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan. This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. The country became a parliamentary democracy that recalled "New Deal" priorities of the 1930s by Roosevelt.

The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's sovereignty – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was fully restored.

These amazing photos from m20wc51 that captured everyday life of Tokyo in the early Postwar Occupation of Japan in 1945 and 1946.