Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

Posted on 20 November 2019 by Herbert P. Bix

Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeIn this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose sixty three year reign ushered Japan into the modern world Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness Bix shows what it was like to be trained from birth for a lone position at the apex of the nation s political hierarchy and as a revered symbol of divine status Influenced by an unusual combination of the Japanese imperial tradition and a modern scientific worldview, the young emperor gradually evolves into his preeminent role, aligning himself with the growing ultranationalist movement, perpetuating a cult of religious emperor worship, resisting attempts to curb his power, and all the while burnishing his image as a reluctant, passive monarch Here we see Hirohito as he truly was a man of strong will and real authority.Supported by a vast array of previously untapped primary documents, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan is perhaps most illuminating in lifting the veil on the mythology surrounding the emperor s impact on the world stage Focusing closely on Hirohito s interactions with his advisers and successive Japanese governments, Bix sheds new light on the causes of the China War in 1937 and the start of the Asia Pacific War in 1941 And while conventional wisdom has had it that the nation s increasing foreign aggression was driven and maintained not by the emperor but by an elite group of Japanese militarists, the reality, as witnessed here, is quite different Bix documents in detail the strong, decisive role Hirohito played in wartime operations, from the takeover of Manchuria in 1931 through the attack on Pearl Harbor and ultimately the fateful decision in 1945 to accede to an unconditional surrender In fact, the emperor stubbornly prolonged the war effort and then used the horrifying bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with the Soviet entrance into the war, as his exit strategy from a no win situation From the moment of capitulation, we see how American and Japanese leaders moved to justify the retention of Hirohito as emperor by whitewashing his wartime role and reshaping the historical consciousness of the Japanese people The key to this strategy was Hirohito s alliance with General MacArthur, who helped him maintain his stature and shed his militaristic image, while MacArthur used the emperor as a figurehead to assist him in converting Japan into a peaceful nation Their partnership ensured that the emperor s image would loom large over the postwar years and later decades, as Japan began to make its way in the modern age and struggled as it still does to come to terms with its past.Until the very end of a career that embodied the conflicting aims of Japan s development as a nation, Hirohito remained preoccupied with politics and with his place in history Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan provides the definitive account of his rich life and legacy Meticulously researched and utterly engaging, this book is proof that the history of twentieth century Japan cannot be understood apart from the life of its most remarkable and enduring leader. New Download Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P. Bix For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Herbert P Bix s biography of Hirohito surpasses that of Edward Behr Hirohito Behind the Myth, New York, 1989 in depth and nuance Bix has spent an enormous amount of time among original Japanese language sources Behr consults Japanese language sources infrequently, and when he does so it is through translation Since Hirohito left virtually no writings that would have given substance to his views, Bix has had to look closely at the diaries left by those who worked with him, and other Herbert P Bix s biography of Hirohito surpasses that of Edward Behr Hirohito Behind the Myth, New York, 1989 in depth and nuance Bix has spent an enormous amount of time among original Japanese language sources Behr consults Japane...As the title suggests, this is a political and not a personal biography of Hirohito Herbert Bix shows that by selecting the information you want to consume, you can see him as a pacifist or leader of the war effort nevertheless, Bix builds a solid case for Hirohito s ultimate responsibility in leading Japan to war.The closest the book gets to personal is the description of Hirohito growing up in the shadow of his over esteemed grandfather and his perhaps mentally deficient father His As the title suggests, this is a political and not a personal biography of Hirohito Herbert Bix shows that by selecting the information you want to consume, you can see him as a pacifist or leader of the war effort nevertheless, Bix builds a solid case for Hirohito s ultimate responsibility in leading Japan to war.The closest the book gets to personal is the description of Hirohito growing up in the shadow of his over esteemed grandfather and his perhaps mentally deficient father His over structured childho...Hirohito is an important and exhaustive history of Japan s most famous emperor that won the Pulitzer for General Non Fiction in 2001 This is an objective biography that holds Hirohito at least partially responsible for the the WWI and WWII Japanese atrocities against Korea, Shanghai, Nanking and the Philippines The early portion of the book covers Hirohito s childhood up to his assumption of the throne in his early 20 s These chapters were a fascinating read We see the extrem...The American novelist, William Faulkner, famously said, The past is never dead It s not even past His subject matter was black white race relations and the legacy of slavery in the American South, but his words serve the Japanese experiment in twentieth century imperialism, the scars of its militarism yet unhealed, ...I read this book several years ago, when it first came out in paperback I knew very little at that time not that I know much now about Japan, and so cannot say how good it is I have read some of the criticisms of it It certainly made a persuasive case, so far as I could tell, against what was still the common view that Hirohito was merely an uninvolved cipher, who was used by the militarists and ultranationalists According to Bix, Hirohito firmly controlled events by allowing his I read this book several years ago, when it first came out in paperback I knew very little at that time not that I know much now about Japan, and so cannot say how good it is I have read some of the criticisms of...Whenever I construct a course of reading for myself, I always try to include an important biography of an major figure This was my biographical selection for a short course 4 books on Japanese history I read in 2007 While overall I came away from this reading series feeling like I understood hardly anyabout Japanese history and society than I had before I started, my gleanings from Hirohito were the notable exception This wan an informative and engrossing narrative, digging pretty Whenever I construct a course of reading for myself, I always try to include an important biography ...Reviewing works of history can be tough when you re approaching it from the perspective of a non expert I am no Asian Studies scholar and especially not a student of Japanese history I have, however, some experience with reading and critiquing historical writing, so I feel fairly confident in asserting that for the lay reader, this book might be a bit much.Bix s main thesis is that Hirohito was no pawn, no figurehead, and figured prominently in many of the bad decisions that lead to lots of of Reviewing works of history can be tough when you re approaching it from the perspective of a non expert I am no Asian Studies scholar and especially not a student of Japanese history I have, however, some experience with reading and critiquing historical writing, so I feel fairly confident in asserting that for the lay reader, this book might be a bit much.Bix s main thesis is that Hirohito was no pawn, no figurehead, and figured prominently in many of the bad decisions that lead to lots of of nasty things in China during the 30s and World War II, writ large Fine He also takes on the postwar manipulation by the US occupying forces of Hirohito s image to make the postwar situationpalatable and acceptable to the Japanese people Fine.But do y...It s difficult for an American, living under the philosophy that we are all equally human and have a right to elect those who govern, to understand a system where one person is considered divine and entitled to rule absolutely Japan no longer has such a system but it did from 1868 the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II.This 700 page book covering the life of Emperor Hirohito gives the reader a detailed account of how the Japanese system worked, in the process providing a view of It s difficult for an American, living under the philosophy that we are all equally human and have a right to elect those who govern, to understand a system where one person is considered divine and entitled to rule absolutely Japan no longer has such a system but it did from 1868 the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II.This 700 page book covering the life of Emperor Hirohito gives the reader a detailed account of how the Japanese system worked, in the process providing a view of the run up, prosecution and aftermath of WWII from the other side.Until I read this book I had been un...I had been interested in reading Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ever since I had seen an exhibit of American anti Japanese propaganda advertisements from during World War II, which used extremely exaggerated Asian stereotypes in its portrayals of the emperor In addition to being highly offended by the overt racism, it occurred to me that I really didn t know much about Hirohito himself, and my only real impression of him was that he was largely a figurehead who was forced into the war I had been interested in reading Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ever since I had seen an exhibit of American anti Japanese propaganda advertisements from during World War II, which used extremely exaggerated Asian stereotypes in its portrayals of the emperor In addition to being highly offended by the overt racism, it occurred to me that I really didn t know much about Hiroh...Bix writes about as good of a biography as possible about Hirohito Japan s disappointing and selfish Emperor from 1926 1989 All but the last forty pages focuses on Hirohito s life up to the late 1940s when he was obsessed with making sure that he was absolved of any culpability in starting WWII and then delaying Japan s surrender The bulk of the book is on the China incident , in reality Japan s invasion an...

English
20 November 2019

Herbert P. Bix