AHC: Someone other than Macarthur oversees reconstruction of post-war Japan

Is it possible for someone other than the Macarthur to be put in charge of rebuilding Japan? If so, who might that be and what sort of policies might he pursue differently from Macarthur? Might an alternative American Shogun pursue a more thorough "de-nazification" of the Japanese wartime political leadership and business elite?
 
Interesting question. It's easy enough to have MacArthur die before or during the war--personally, I have always wanted to see a TL where he is shot while trying to drive out the Bonus Army--but I have no idea who would replace him.

In the short term, I think anyone other than Mac would not have rudely rebuffed the Emperor's attempt to apologize for the war. That alone would likely have some interesting effects. There is also a decent chance you'd see the Showa Emperor step down in favor of someone else, as some in the Imperial Family themselves favored. If you had a replacement who was himself quite leftist, then things like the breaking up of the zaibatsu might have been persued with more vigor and thoroughness.

In the long run, though, I think the "Reverse Course" is almost bound to happen. Making a clean a total break with the past was a lovely idea, but it was a peacetime dream. Once it became clear that China was going to go Red, and certainly after the start of the Korean War, the US decided that it needed Japan as an anti-communist bulwark in East Asia. Working with people who had no ties to the Militarist regime was a luxury they felt they didn't have.

Really, I think the PoDs necessary to really purge all of the Militarist influence from postwar Japan all lay outside of Japan. A KMT-lead China, no Korean War, no Cold War... these are the sorts of PoDs needed. A tall order, to say the least.
 
Alternatively, why not have MacArthur posted in Europe and Eisenhower posted in the Pacific? If MacArthur isn't overseeing the reconstruction of Japan, chances are that the Imperial family may also be executed for their role in the war, and I did read a book on this that the Soviets wanted to use a firing squad to execute the Imperial family.
 
If the US is there first I can't see them executing the Imperial Family, but the Emperor is certainly on the table.

Odd thought: Any chance that the U.S. would turn to a hardline militarist or militarists but who have old grudges against the Imperial Rule Assistance Association Japanese fascist types and no love of tradition in order to pull a much stronger Reverse Course rearmament? As unlikely as it is, the possibility of a maverick general becoming the US backed modernist dictator of a rearming anti-communist Japanese republic is one I find interesting; though likely not even having the war guilt placed on the Emperor and on the Imperial system would be enough for the Allies to be comfortable with a militarist Japan. I guess it is easier to work with ex-fascist businessmen than with unconnected but still similar in aggressive nationalism military types. It is just that, with all of the infighting in militarist-era Japan, I imagine there would have to be some kooky general or admiral who secretly advocated overthrowing the monarchy.
 
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