i***a
发帖数: 4718 | 1 http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-compiles
TOKYO —
Japan’s Imperial Household Agency has compiled a 61-volume biography of
former Emperor Hirohito that portrays him as being distressed that he could
not stop his country from going to war, according to Japan’s Kyodo News
agency.
The 12,000-page record says he complained in July 1939 to Army Minister
Seishiro Itagaki about the military’s “predisposition” as it strengthened
its relationship with Germany, Kyodo reported. He also warned against the
navy’s call for war with the United States, predicting in July 1941 that it
would be “nothing less than a self-destructive war.”
The record also cites U.S. Gen Douglas MacArthur, who led America’s postwar
occupation of Japan, as saying Hirohito had said he accepted full
responsibility for the war.
Hirohito’s role in World War II was never firmly established, as he was
shielded from indictment in the Tokyo war crimes trials by a U.S. occupation
that wanted to use him as a symbol to rebuild Japan. He died in 1989 after
62 years on the throne.
An advance copy of the report was made available to some Japanese media, but
the Imperial Household Agency turned down requests from The Associated
Press for a copy. It is to be published in stages over five years beginning
next March.
The project began in 1990 and cost 200 million yen. Kyodo said it provides
little new material and is unlikely to change current thinking about
Hirohito. It does make public some letters and essays he wrote as a child.
The record confirms that Hirohito said in 1988 that he had stopped visiting
the controversial Yasukuni Shrine because it had added Class A war criminals
to those enshrined there, Kyodo said. His last visit to Yasukuni was in
1975. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine last December,
sparking official protests from China and South Korea. | i***a
发帖数: 4718 | 2 倭皇的屁股擦不干净。
KabukiloverSEP. 09, 2014 - 10:28AM JST
If the summary is accurate then this is a long winded whitewash of Hirohito'
s prewar reign. He was far from a helpless monarch. Witness for example how
quickly he suppressed the young officers revolt in 1937. Nor was he helpless
to stop the attack Pearl Harbor. Several of his ministers opposed the
attack, as did his mother. In what can be seen as case study of the
consequences of not listening to your mother, he agreed to the attack.
The helpless and peace loving humanist monarch is an international postwar
myth. Hirohito was an diligent administrator from the time he was prince
regent. When he needed to be ruthless he was. He did cultivate a "humanist"
image and a pretense of being above politics while working behind the scenes.
He was very much in control as commander and chief of military operations
during the war. This may have been one reason the US did not bomb the
imperial palace. Hirohito was a total screw up as a military leader. No
matter what, he demanded attacks and no retreats.
Hirohito had but one goal in life. Preserving the monarchy no matter the
cost. |
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