Landing craft from U.S. warships arrived in Otaru Bay under a pallid sky in the early morning of Oct. 5, 1945.

Reconnaissance aircraft were banking overhead and jeeps, amphibious vehicles and large trucks kicked up clouds of dust below. The occupation of Hokkaido had begun.

Among the soldiers landing that morning was Vincent W. Allen. Although only a 23-year-old second lieutenant, he had been appointed deputy police commissioner for Hokkaido. Years later he would write "A Very Intimate Occupation" (Vantage Press, 2000), which includes an unvarnished account of the early months of the island's occupation.