The Reorganizing Processes of the Chonaikai under the occupation by the Allied Forces, 1947-1952

a Case Study of the Yanaka Area in Taito Borough

Abstract

This paper examines neighborhood activities after the dissolution of the chonaikai (neighborhood association) under the occupation administration. The chonaikai was regarded as a perversive base of imperial governance especially during the Second World War. Although the chonaikai was prohibited, alternative groups were organized in the name of cultural associations, youth clubs and the like. These groups were formed to meet people's needs, interests and sentiments concerned with every day life. The neighborhoods that made up each chonaikai reflected the basic community structure and how it was arranged, especially in the Shitamachi (downtown) situation of city life.