Both starvation and disease threatened the Japanese population in the early years of Occupation after World War II.  In order to help alleviate the food shortage, the United States donated large amounts of food for the Japanese population.  Even so, malnutrition remained a problem.

In this photograph, taken on July 2, 1946 in Tokyo, the woman is receiving her ration of 297 grams of food per person/per day.  While the donated food was helpful, the amount rationed was not really enough for survival, and a blackmarket flourished.

Credit: Donated by Corbis-Bettmann