Customer Reviews

Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: A Political Biography (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)

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This biography goes a long way towards a balanced, even-handed, and realistic portrait of an Emperor who has been mischaracterized as either completely powerless or disingenuously powerful by recent biographers such as Herbert Bix. I believe Stephen Large's book is an excellent reference and goes a long way to exposing the overreach of Herbert Bix's interpretation of history while nevertheless agreeing that Hirohito had more involvement in the war effort than has been previously assumed. Citing numerous original source documents, of particular interest to me was the writings of the aged genro Saionji, it becomes quite clear that Hirohito was buffeted by several conflicting impulses: an initial desire to avoid war while remaining patriotic and a desire to avoid influencing government while at the same time willing to make exceptions in rare cases. I believe Large makes a convincing case that Hirohito was not, in fact, initially enthusiastic about the war, and he did side with the so-called "peace party" --- it was only later in the war that he became more involved, and Saionji lamented that the Emperor no longer listened to him --- however I think it's fairly clear that the Emperor was merely going along with a decision that was certainly not his to make, and by the end, when defeat became obvious, he gratefully came back to his "peace party" roots. I think there's little doubt that Hirohito was a man thrust into a position of symbolic influence when he wasn't well-suited for the task, and Large does a great job of documenting and validating this view.

I highly recommend this book for serious scholars of wartime Japan.

When did he become Emperor and where did Mr. Lange get his information? Doesn't he know that President Wilson lied about Pearl Harbor and that the real Emperor is not from Tokyo Castle at all but south where the older castles are? Is he sane?