Yamashita, North Japan

Yamashita was a town on Japan's east coast, 10 miles south of Sendai. After the end of World War II, it fell within the borders of the Japanese People's Republic. In August 1949, during the climax of the Japanese War, US forces helping to defend the Constitutional Monarchy of Japan forced the invading North Japanese back from Yamashita to Sendai, about ten miles to the north. While American troops held Yamashita, the United States deployed an atomic bomb against Sendai.

While standing in the ruins of Yamashita, Mike Sullivan was able to briefly study Soviet propaganda leaflets in traditional Japanese writing. In U.S.-controlled South Japan, President Joe Steele had begun enforcing the use of the Latin alphabet.