Why was They Who Step on the Tiger’s Tail not released until 1952?

They Who Step on the Tiger’s Tail (1945) was not released until 1952 because the Allied occupation forces in Japan prohibited the distribution of most films that depicted the country's feudal past.1

The film, a parody of a well-known Kabuki drama, was being filmed by Kurosawa Akira at the time of Japan's surrender in August 1945. Because the Allied Command viewed such period dramas (jidai-geki) as promoting feudalism, the film was suppressed until the occupation period concluded in 1952.12