Customer Reviews

Biography - Hirohito

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This isn't a bad movie, but it says that Hirohito had no power over his army, but recent evidence has proven that Hirohito was responsible for the tens of millions of lives that were killed by the Japanese. For those that want to know the real Hirohito I recommend reading Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P. Bix.

Hirohito is without question the most amazing political survivor of the last two centuries. Just as incredible is the fact that it was not due to either his political or economic abilities. Therefore, he can also be considered one of the luckiest people of the last two centuries. As Japan moved towards a full-scale war for domination of the Asian continent, he was both engaged and detached from the events. In fact, historians still debate his involvement in the actions of the Japanese military throughout the thirties until the end of the war.
This is an excellent and very even-handed presentation of Hirohito, with an emphasis on the years before and during World War II. Japanese society of that time is an example of extreme nationalism run amok, often characterized as a government by assassination. The only point of stability was the Emperor, but only if he maintained the premise of being above the dirty business of running the country. This point is put across in a clear manner, something that must be well-known if you are to have any hope of understanding why Japan embarked on such foolhardy military moves that were doomed to fail. Locked in a war of attrition in China that could not possibly be won, the Japanese chose to also move against the United States, locking them into a two front war that could only lead to defeat. It was the first manifestation of the kamikaze mentality that became so dominant in the last months of the war.
It is most unlikely that we will ever know the extent of the involvement of Hirohito in the decisions that led to Japan's military adventures in World War II. He remained a figurehead of Japanese society after the war, no longer a formal god on Earth, but still very much an informal one. This is a tape that all those interested in either Japan or the war in the Pacific should view.

Hirohito has always been something of a puzzle to me. As a teenager in the 1980s, I would see this man on the news and wonder why on earth he was still the emperor of Japan. During his reign, Japanese forces committed untold atrocities against the Chinese and all manner of other Asian peoples, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor in a treacherous sneak attack, Japanese soldiers killed many brave American soldiers, and Japan was forced to sign terms of unconditional surrender. It made no sense to me that Hirohito was still the emperor of Japan, a man who was never forced to pay any real price at all as a war criminal. Even the Japanese people continued to revere him, seemingly holding no grudges over the destruction American forces and bombs brought to the Japanese homeland in 1945. This Biography video sheds light on Hirohito and his Japan, but it fails to deliver on its promises. At the outset, Jack Perkins tells me this video will reexamine Hirohito's role in the attack on Pearl Harbor and seemingly argue that he played a larger role than history and myth tell us; frankly, there is no explication of this issue to be found here.

If nothing else, this documentary shows that Hirohito was an exceedingly weak and ineffective emperor, a man lacking the backbone to stand up to his advisors and the military leaders of Japan. He obviously was a good learner, though, as his advisors supposedly taught him from a young age to be a passive ruler. By the 1930s, military leaders saw depression and the dangers of a reunified China as their chance to pursue their own aggressive goals. Without Hirohito's knowledge, they attacked Manchuria, then attacked the Chinese heartland (torturing and massacring up to two hundred thousand people in the infamous Rape of Nanking). Hirohito opposed such actions, we are told, and was horrified by the atrocities committed in his name. He was too passive, however, to do anything to stop the army's aggression. Certainly, the fact that the military assassinated six prime ministers during the 1930s would make one reticent to speak out against them, but an emperor is supposed to lead his country. Hirohito, though, backed down from his anti-military wishes time and time again, eventually acquiescing altogether to everything that happened: Japan's abandonment of the League of Nations, its militaristic aggression, and of course the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is most ironic that the military played up Hirohito's supposed divine nature and made him the rallying cry of its own aggressions.

This video explains why Hirohito stayed on the throne (now officially a figurehead) after World War II. MacArthur, as well as planners in Washington, thought he would serve as a stabilizing force in the chaotic days following the war. Rather than being castigated as a collaborator, the Japanese people continued their support for the emperor, which amazes me. He became a symbol of Japan' new middle class and eventually a good will ambassador. He never expressed regret about Japanese atrocities during the war, and he never paid any price for his role in events - in which he was, if nothing else, complicit. These facts were never truly forgotten in the west, however, as some world leaders were criticized for attending Hirohito's funeral in 1989.

This would be an excellent video were it not for the introductory promise to shed new light on Hirohito's role in the attack on Pearl Harbor; all we are told on this point is that he seemingly nodded in acquiescence to the plan, showing no uneasiness with the decision. Other than this, all we get are old and tired excuses: he felt powerless to stop the plans, and he feared the possibility of a coup against him. He was angry that Japan attacked before declaring war, though; that, we are told, is the only thing about Pearl Harbor that made him angry.

This documentary shows that Hirohito was a very fortunate man. He was a spineless leader who did not dare command his military to rein themselves in and do his wishes; he witnessed the destruction of his country by allied bombs; and he never faced charges of war crimes or lost his throne over the carnage carried out in his name. Despite all this, he retained his seat as emperor, enjoyed great popularity among his people, and lived the easy life for 44 years after the war. This biographical presentation does a fine job of describing Hirohito's life, but it leaves many questions - including some it poses at the beginning - unanswered.

I found this A&E biography very disappointing. Film footage was devoted more to discussing the war rather than Hirohito, the man.