Hirohito

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer looks at the Japanese Emperor Hirohito using Herbert P. Bix's extensive biography 'Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'. The writer discusses that Bix demonstrates in the book how the representative of Japanese traditions and of ties to Imperial Japan incidentally ruled during the period that saw Japan enter the modern world and become a world economic power. The writer maintains that the conventional view of the aggressive stance taken by Japan in the 1930s and into the 1940s is that Hirohito simply went along with what his ministers demanded. The writer shows that Bix has a different view and uses primary sources and documentation to demonstrate that the Emperor took a more active role in the push for war. The writer concludes with Bix's analysis that Hirohito was indeed culpable for the attack on Pearl Harbor and for the war itself.

From the Paper:

"The details of his life are covered, showing him to have been a man of the Twentieth Century from his birth in 1901 to his death in 1989. He was the grandson of Emperor Meiji, and his father, Emperor Taisho, attained power in 1912. Hirohito was tied to the past largely in terms of his royal role, but he himself studied to be a marine biologist and was interested in the natural sciences. He also visited Europe, the first Japanese prince eve to do so. He became emperor when his father died in 1926. The constitution of Japan restricted the actions of the emperor so that he could only act on the advice of his ministers and his chiefs of staff, but Hirohito showed himself willing to act when he deemed it necessary in spite of these restrictions."

More papers on Hirohito:

• Essay # 66854 : "Japanese Emperor Hirohito"
• Analytical Essay # 61208 : "In Service of the Emperor"
• Research Paper # 53604 : "To Bomb or Not to Bomb"

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