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Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave  (21)
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Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold by Sterling Seagrave  (16)
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Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China by Sterling Seagrave (28)
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In Search of Gold by Tomas Cyran
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Sterling and Peggy Seagrave correct these falsehoods and expose the collusion and corruption that have been at the heart of the postwar Japanese economic miracle. And far from being a symbolic reminder of an ancient past, as the Japanese royal family is sometimes portrayed, the authors point out that it has been at the epicenter of venality and cruelty. Prince Chichibu, Emperor Hirohito's brother, turns out to have masterminded Golden Lily, the systematic looting of every country Japan occupied in the prewar years. Prince Yasuhiko was the brains behind the Rape of Nanking. And dear old Hirohito was so hands-on during the war that he could have halted Pearl Harbor. Moreover, the royal family was so comfortably in bed with the zaibatsu, the corporate ruling elite, that it made a fortune out of the war while the rest of the nation starved.
That none of this has come out before is only partly due to Japanese revisionism. We, too, have to share the blame. We had the evidence to try some of the imperial family as war criminals, but we chose not to. The Seagraves' book makes uncomfortable reading for all concerned. --John Crace, Amazon.co.uk
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Drawing on recently discovered sources, including imperial diaries, longtime Asian expert Sterling Seagrave (The Soong Dynasty) and his wife and collaborator, Peggy, connect, in this penetrating yet remorselessly bleak account, the personal histories of Japan's emperors, their wives and other members of the imperial family through five generations (from 1868--the year of the Meiji Restoration--to the present) to Japan's political and economic culture. The authors contend that the imperial system, with all its isolation and mystification, was a veil behind which plutocrats and militarists have always exerted unobtrusive control over Japanese society. Even today, they argue, Japan is "a one-class dictatorship by a financial elite evolved from the clan lords of previous centuries" who "rule by manipulation, intimidation and corruption." The Seagraves extensively study the long reign of Emperor Hirohito (who ruled from 1926 to 1989), assigning him and other members of the imperial family a measure of guilt for Japan's military aggression, wartime atrocities and looting of stupendous wealth from all corners of Asia. They criticize U.S. officials, especially MacArthur, for orchestrating a postwar exorcism by which only a handful of Japanese war criminals were punished, while Hirohito and his family were restored to power without having to account for their wartime depredations. The Seagraves see Japan's present as replicating its past, with an economy in ruins, the current imperials marginalized and behind-the-scenes manipulators still resisting reform. This book dramatically brings the imperial family--and those behind it--to life, offering readers an intriguing glimpse behind the long-maintained veil of secrecy. B&w photos, maps. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Inside This Book Citations: This book cites 100 books Explore: Citations | Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Key Phrases - SIPs: war loot, financial cliques, imperial family, war responsibility, emperor system (more) Key Phrases - CAPs: Prince Chichibu, World War, United States, Prince Asaka, Empress Sadako (more) Browse Sample Pages: Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me! |
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