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Notes -
It’s not so simple. Japan was already modernising: the period between the end of the shogunate and WW2 is basically Japan speed-running the Enlightenment. The Americans made the very sensible choice to avoid provoking excess resentment by leaving Emperor Hirohito alive and allowing them to preserve many of their existing traditions in new forms: ken-jutsu (an art of war) became ken-do (a school sport), and so on. So they didn’t feel they were losing more than they had already lost by adopting American ways.
Beyond that, much of Japan’s liberalisation is potemkin - the same party has been in charge for the vast majority of the last seventy years, the police has very broad discretion and prosecution will rubber-stamp anything they do.
The Japanese mostly copied America because America looked worth copying: it was huge and rich and advanced, and everything Japan felt it out to be. Plus the road of imperial conquest was now closed to them, so they chose the next best option.
The main thing that has changed is that liberal countries are no longer unquestionably worth imitating. Europe is increasingly poor despite being liberal, China is increasingly rich despite being culturally illiberal.
EDIT: interesting, completely the opposite perspective from @MaiqTheTrue
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