Jesús Solís, "Japan and America's Black Market Empire, 1945-1975"

Jesús Solís
Postdoctoral Fellow, Program on US-Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

Moderator: David Howell
Acting Director, Program on US-Japan Relations; Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Professor of Japanese History, Harvard University

Co-sponsored by the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies; and the Harvard University Department of History.

This seminar is part of the Worldwide Week at Harvard 2024, organized by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs.

Register for Zoom

Note: Registration is not required for in-person attendance. 

Additional Resources

1. Allison, William. “War for Sale: The Black Market, Currency Manipulation and Corruption in  the American War in Vietnam.” War & Society 21, no. 2 (2003): 135-164.
2. Black Market, Kyoto; May 28, 1946; Moving Images Relating to Military Aviation Activities; RG 342: Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organization; NACP; This video is also available on the National Archives Video Collection channel on YouTube: URL
3. Griffiths, Owen. “Need, Greed, and Protest in Japan’s Black Market, 1938-1949.” Journal of Social History 35, no. 4 (2002): 825-858.
4. Solis, Jesus. “The Drugs of War and Empire: Narcotics Consumption and Trafficking during the Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952” in Drugs and the Politics of Consumption in Japan, eds. Judith Vitale, Oleg Benesch, and Miriam Kingsberg Kadia. Boston: Brill, 2023.