Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID9820046
AuthorsLucian W Pye, Herbert P Bix
Year2000
Volume79
Issue5
Pages128
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueForeign Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-7120 • E-ISSN: 2327-7793
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/20049894
OpenAlexW2065975538
LanguageEN
Citations received46

Though one of the most hated World War II leaders, together with Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, no one has ever written a full-length biography of Emperor Hirohito. Mostly due to the secrecy of Japanese society, where responsibility for war atrocities has still not been acknowledged, it is in large part a consequence of US spin-control after the armistice. Fearful of a civil war, General MacArthur invented the fiction of Hirohito as a peaceful emperor, whose symbolic power was abused by his war-hungry underlings. In this biography, Bix reveals that nothing could be further from the truth. Groomed as the supreme warlord from early childhood, Hirohito was firmly in control of his troops up until his surrender. Everything, including his love for science and his visit to the UK, he adopted to strengthen and maintain his vast and deeply-rooted imperial power. Playing off the army against politicians, who were frequently murdered or committed suicide, no major decision was ever taken without being passed by him

Ancient history · Biography · Emperor · Nothing · Political science · Power (physics · Secrecy · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Surrender · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy

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