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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.
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Subjects
Keizers, Emperadores, Politische Reform, Histoire, Empereurs, Emperors, Historia, Geschichte, Nonfiction, E poque Showa (Japon, 1926-1989), Biografía, Biographies, Biography, History, Hirohito, emperor of japan, 1901-1989, Japan, politics and government, Japan, history, Emperors, japan, New York Times reviewedEdition | Availability |
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2009, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
0061860476 9780061860478
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2008, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
0061656917 9780061656910
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2008, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
0061570753 9780061570759
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2008, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
0061570761 9780061570766
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05
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2008, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
006157077X 9780061570773
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
2008, HarperCollins
Electronic resource
in English
0061570745 9780061570742
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Zhen xiang: Yuren tian huang yu qin Hua zhan zheng = Hirohito and the making of modern Japan
2004, Xin hua chu ban she
in Chinese
- Di 1 ban
7501167591 9787501167593
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08
Yuren tian huang: to kindai no Nihon no keisei
2002, Shi bao wen hua chu ban qi ye gu fen you xian gong si
in Chinese
9571335991 9789571335995
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09
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
September 4, 2001, Harper Perennial
Paperback
in English
- 1st Perennial Ed edition
0060931302 9780060931308
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
September 4, 2001, Harper Perennial
in English
0060931302 9780060931308
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
February 22, 2001, Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, Gardners Books
Hardcover
0715630776 9780715630778
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Hirohito and the making of modern Japan
2000, HarperCollinsPublishers
in English
- 1st ed.
006019314X 9780060193140
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
September 2000, HarperCollins Publishers
in English
006019314X 9780060193140
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Hirohito and the making of modern Japan
2000, HarperCollinsPublishers
in English
- 1st ed.
006019314X 9780060193140
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
May 2000, Diane Pub Co
Hardcover
in English
0756757800 9780756757809
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Hirohito and the making of modern Japan
2000, HarperCollinsPublishers
in English
- 1st ed.
006019314X 9780060193140
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Hirohito and the making of modern Japan
2000, HarperCollinsPublishers
in English
- 1st ed.
006019314X 9780060193140
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
September 2000, HarperCollins Publishers
Hardcover
in English
006019314X 9780060193140
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Book Details
First Sentence
"Emperor Meiji's first grandson was born on April 29,1901, within the Aovama Palace in Tokyo."
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- Created April 30, 2008
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April 28, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |