false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg 93959 5 To many, Emperor Hirohito of Japan is remembered as a helpless figurehead during Japan's wars with China and the U.S. According to the received wisdom, he knew nothing of the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor and had no power to stop atrocities like the Rape of Nanking. The emperor was the mild-mannered little man who traipsed with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland and who brought peace through surrender, certainly not "one of the most disingenuous persons ever to occupy the modern throne." Herbert Bix's charged political biography, however, argues that such accepted beliefs are myths and misrepresentations spun by both Japanese and Americans to protect the emperor from indictment. Since Hirohito's death in 1989, hundreds of documents, diaries, and scholarly studies have been published (and subsequently ignored) in Japan. Historian Bix used these sources to develop this shocking and nuanced portrait of a man far more shrewd, activist, and energetic than previously thought. Caught up in the fever of territorial expansion, Hirohito was the force that animated the war system, who, acting fully as a military leader and head of state, encouraged the belligerency of his people and pursued the war to its disastrous conclusion. To the very end, Hirohito refused to acknowledge any responsibility for his role in the death of millions as well as the brutalities inflicted by his forces in China, Korea, and the Philippines. In fact, he worked with none other than General MacArthur to select his fall guys and fix testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials--the emperor trying to protect the throne at all cost, the U.S. acting to ensure control of the Japanese population and the military by retaining Hirohito as a figurehead. <p> Not surprisingly, this hefty work of scholarship is making waves, as Americans and Japanese reconsider their roles in WWII and its aftermath. By placing Hirohito back in the center of the picture and puncturing the myths that surround him, Bix has effectively asked the Japanese to come out of their half-century repression of the past and face their wartime responsibility. Without doing so, he implies, the monarchy will forever impede the development of democracy. For those interested in Japan's wartime past and its influence on the present, this is fascinating, if lengthy, reading. <I>--Lesley Reed</I> 90572 2000 Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan total:111|5:25|4:50|3:26|2:7|1:3| 111 420 278 22 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 4 0 false Thu May 24 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Feb 15 08:59:15 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 09:22:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 0 false Thu Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 31 06:28:49 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 05:54:15 -0800 2008
Bix had a very important purpose in writing this book other than simply writing a biography. He wanted to look at Hirohito's tr...more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jun 19 21:11:36 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 21:17:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Jul 22 21:45:20 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 21:49:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 5 0 false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 07:14:54 -0800 2009 Tue May 05 07:41:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Thu Dec 04 15:54:24 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 15:57:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Thu Mar 27 15:58:14 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 02 14:53:11 -0700 2009
This book could have used a better editor. I am getting annoyed with the repetitive turns of phrase, the tons of details that don't make any difference and the glossing over of major events that do. No, Mr. Bix, we have not ...more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 4 0 false Tue Dec 30 10:33:59 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 10:33:59 -0800 2008 2 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 4 0 false Mon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 19:44:35 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 03:09:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Mon Jan 05 22:03:08 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 21:32:10 -0800 2009 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 5 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Mon Mar 30 15:16:30 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 15:17:06 -0700 2009 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 0 false Mon Aug 13 19:54:07 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 19:57:31 -0700 2007
how can a man like him lead a country like that? is he another puppet emperor? d...more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Sat Aug 22 05:47:40 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 12:15:06 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 05:47:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 5 0 false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 06 01:14:42 -0800 2009 Thu Aug 13 12:31:03 -0700 2009 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 17:50:16 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 17:50:16 -0700 2007 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 4 0 false Tue May 27 07:35:25 -0700 2008 Tue May 27 07:35:44 -0700 2008 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 1 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Apr 23 19:23:35 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 19:24:11 -0700 2008 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 3 0 false Mon Dec 17 13:44:26 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 13:44:56 -0800 2007 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 4 0 false Sun Sep 07 18:34:11 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 18:34:45 -0700 2008 93959 0060931302 9780060931308 106 21 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171266813m/93959.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93959.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan 0 0 false Fri Oct 09 01:10:25 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 01:10:38 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=93959