Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

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		Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
		Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

In 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.

Herbert P. Bix grew up in Winthrop, Massachusetts, and earned his Ph.D. in history and Far Eastern languages from Harvard University. For the past thirty years he has written extensively on modern and contemporary Japanese history in leading journals in the United States and Japan. He has taught Japanese history at a number of American and Japanese universities, most recently at Harvard, and is currently a professor in the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

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1 送货速度快 2天 往常一样好

2 书籍质量不用赘述 普利策奖作品 中文译版阉割的体无完肤 所以英文版是最好选择

3 但是 书籍保护非常差 折角 压痕 还有书脊也摇摇欲坠

4 本书 没有介绍说的800多页 包括参考文献目录也仅700出头 正文只有六百页左右
希望卓越完善书籍介绍 以免出现差错

happy to ready about Sino-Japanese recent history in a different angle. an honorable nation needs to lead an integrated life just like a good an honorable person. History is the best teacher for leaders and also for us as citizen.

A very tedious work that could bypass several chapters. My recommendation is to read the introduction, and then jump to part 3, Is Majesties Wars, 1931-1945. The first two parts are about his childhood development, other than having a very sheltered life and only having school with four classmates. His teachers were also very carefully selected. If interested read a few pages to get the gist.

Once into the meat of the story Bix clearly presents his case that Hirohito led the fight for Japanese expansion in Asia and responsibilities for WWII. His activities and responsibilities as emperor, an engaged leader, leading his nation to war in Korea, Manchuria, attack on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and South Pacific is very well documented. The case against Hirohito is overwhelming, and sadly, drones after a period of time. But the point is well made that Hirohito was in charge. I was somewhat surprised and disappointed that very little was discussed about Hirohito's or Japan's immediate reactions after Pearl Harbor. Discussion of Hirohoto's and Japanese leader's rationale for the surrender for that ended WWII is fascinating, for them Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the expedient rationale rather the reason to stop fighting. I expected the end of WWII to be the highlight for this book, but found the chapters immediately after the war fascinating. Hirohito's relation with General MacArthur, and how he managed to avoid responsibilities for the war and war crimes, and how the myth that he was a peaceful emperor began is remarkable. Excellent work, but opening is extremely tedious, and the case against Hirohito is so strong that reading bogs down.

I spent a little over three years in Japan in the US Air Force 1969-1972. While I was there I read many books about Japanese history as well as some of their popular fiction (translated into English) and found them to be quite fascinating. This book by Herbert P. Bix has been on my list for a while because of the topic as well as the author's credentials and I finally read it. All I can say is it was very thoroughly researched, well written, and I learned a lot about the Emperor's part in the events of WWII as well as why Japanese society is the way it is today. Once I got into the book a bit, momentum took over and it was hard to put down, not because it was like a thriller but because I just kept wanting to learn more. I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII, Japanese history, or Emperor Hirohito. A lot of the mystery is dispelled and based on letters, notes, diaries, etc of those around him. It was a great read!

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