Why did the US occupation of Japan focus on shaping Japan as a democratic member of the Western bloc?The initial purpose of occupation of Japan by...

There were two reasons for
this.

First of all, the US believed that a democratic Japan
would be much less likely to ever become a military threat again.  The US believed that
the war had been brought on by the structure of government under the Meiji constitution
that allowed the military to have so much power over the civilian government.  By making
Japan a democracy, the US felt it could avoid having this happen
again.

The second reason is the Cold War.  With the spread
of communism in East Asia, the US feared that Japan might be next.  Therefore, it
focused heavily on briging Japan into the Western bloc to serve as an outpost of
American power.

For these reasons, the US wanted very much
to make Japan a democratic country and a member of the Western
bloc.