Emperor Of Japan

Author : Donald Keene
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 957 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2005-06-14
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780231518116

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Emperor of Japan by Donald Keene Pdf

The renowned Japanese scholar “brings us as close to the inner life of the Meiji emperor as we are ever likely to get” (The New York Times Book Review). When Emperor Meiji began his rule in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, cut off from the outside world, staunchly antiforeign, and committed to the traditions of the past. Before long, the shogun surrendered to the emperor, a new constitution was adopted, and Japan emerged as a modern, industrialized state. Despite the length of his reign, little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first emperor ever to meet a European. But now, Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan’s history. In this vivid and engrossing biography, we move with the emperor through his early, traditional education; join in the formal processions that acquainted the young emperor with his country and its people; observe his behavior in court, his marriage, and his relationships with various consorts; and follow his maturation into a “Confucian” sovereign dedicated to simplicity, frugality, and hard work. Later, during Japan’s wars with China and Russia, we witness Meiji’s struggle to reconcile his personal commitment to peace and his nation’s increasingly militarized experience of modernization. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest. “Utterly brilliant . . . the best history in English of the emergence of modern Japan.”—Los Angeles Times

Author : Stephen Large
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2013-01-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781134968763

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Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan by Stephen Large Pdf

Emperor Hirohito reigned for more than sixty years, yet we know little about him or the part he really played in the turbulent history of Showa Japan. Stephen Large draws on a wide range of Japanese and Western sources in his study of Emperor Hirohito's political role in Showa Japan (1926-89). This analysis focuses on key events in his career such as the extent to which he bore responsibility for Japanese aggression in the Pacific in 1941, and explains why Hirohito remains such a contested symbol in Japanese post war politics.

Author : Leonard Mosley
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1966
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Hirohito Emperor of Japan by Leonard Mosley Pdf

Author : Herbert P. Bix
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 832 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2009-10-13
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780061860478

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Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan by Herbert P. Bix Pdf

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 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.

Author : Ben-Ami Shillony
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 355 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9789004168220

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The Emperors of Modern Japan by Ben-Ami Shillony Pdf

The book offers a fascinating picture of the four emperors of modern Japan, their institution, their personalities and their impact on the history of their country. Leading scholars from Japan and other countries have contributed essays which treat this subject from various angles.

Author : Kiyoko Takeda
Publisher : Springer
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 1988-06-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9781349055463

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The Dual-Image of the Japanese Emperor by Kiyoko Takeda Pdf

At the end of World War II and through the Allied occupation, the Allies deliberated whether to abolish or to preserve the Japanese Emperor system. This is a study of the transformation of Japan under the impact of the democratizing policy of a forceful military occupation from the West.

Author : Morris Low
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2006-09-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781134195824

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Japan on Display by Morris Low Pdf

Sixty years on from the end of the Pacific War, Japan on Display examines representations of the Meiji emperor, Mutsuhito (1852-1912) and his grandson the Showa emperor, Hirohito who was regarded as a symbol of the nation, in both war and peacetime. Much of this representation was aided by the phenomenon of photography. The introduction and development of photography in the nineteenth century coincided with the need to make Hirohito’s grandfather, the young Meiji Emperor, more visible. Photo books and albums became a popular format for presenting seemingly objective images of the monarch, reminding the Japanese of their proximity to the Emperor, and the imperial family. In the twentieth century, these 'national albums’ provided a visual record of wars fought in the name of the Emperor, while also documenting the reconstruction of Tokyo, scientific expeditions, and imperial tours. Drawing on archival documents, photographs, and sources in both Japanese and English, this book throws new light on the history of twentieth-century Japan and the central role of Hirohito. With Japan’s defeat in the Pacific War, the Emperor was transformed from wartime leader to peace-loving scientist. Japan on Display seeks to understand this reinvention of a more 'human’ Emperor and the role that photography played in the process.

Author : Peter Martin
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 204 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 1997-09-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0824820290

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The Chrysanthemum Throne by Peter Martin Pdf

In this first general study of the Japanese imperial institution throughout its history, Peter Martin brings together inaccessible material, much of it available only in Japanese. He surveys the history and political and religious status of the monarchy of Japan from its mythological origins to our own times.

Author : Thomas Crump
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : STANFORD:36105111526005

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The Death of an Emperor by Thomas Crump Pdf

Hirohito was the last Japanese Emperor to claim divine status, and his death in 1989 not only saw the end of a 63-year reign, but also brought into question the entire future of the monarchy. Three critical factors in traditional life relating to the role of the Emperor are now open to change. Firstly the extent to which the gods of Shinto determine the fortunes of the nation. Secondly the way in which the goodwill of the gods depends on there being an Emperor, and finally the Emperor's role in the seasonal rites which determine the success of the rice harvest. Thomas Crump's study of Japan at the crossroads assesses the political and cultural decisions that now have to be made and considers the options open to the new Emperor, Akihito.

Author : Lee Butler
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015082717128

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Emperor and Aristocracy in Japan, 1467-1680 by Lee Butler Pdf

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- The Struggle to Survive -- Normalcy and Its Pretenses -- Court Society During Reunification -- Unifiers and Aristocrats -- The Crises of 1609-1610 -- Codifying the Court -- Of Persons and Structures -- The Culture of a New Aristocracy -- Conclusion -- Character List of japanese Books Collected and Copied by Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1614-1615 -- Character List of Japanese Terms and Names -- Aristocratic Diaries of the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index -- Harvard East Asian Monographs.

Author : Kiyoko Takeda
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 183 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 1988-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0814781780

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The Dual-image of the Japanese Emperor by Kiyoko Takeda Pdf

Author : Peter Kornicki
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2021-12-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780197644089

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Eavesdropping on the Emperor by Peter Kornicki Pdf

When Japanese signals were decoded at Bletchley Park, who translated them into English? When Japanese soldiers were taken as prisoners of war, who interrogated them? When Japanese maps and plans were captured on the battlefield, who deciphered them for Britain? When Great Britain found itself at war with Japan in December 1941, there was a linguistic battle to be fought--but Britain was hopelessly unprepared. Eavesdropping on the Emperor traces the men and women with a talent for languages who were put on crash courses in Japanese, and unfolds the history of their war. Some were sent with their new skills to India; others to Mauritius, where there was a secret radio intercept station; or to Australia, where they worked with Australian and American codebreakers. Translating the despatches of the Japanese ambassador in Berlin after his conversations with Hitler; retrieving filthy but valuable documents from the battlefield in Burma; monitoring Japanese airwaves to warn of air-raids--Britain depended on these forgotten 'war heroes'. The accuracy of their translations was a matter of life or death, and they rose to the challenge. Based on declassified archives and interviews with the few survivors, this fascinating, globe-trotting book tells their stories.

Author : Ben-Ami Shillony
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2008-10-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9789047442257

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The Emperors of Modern Japan by Ben-Ami Shillony Pdf

The book offers a fascinating picture of the four emperors of modern Japan, their institution, their personalities and their impact on the history of their country. Leading scholars from Japan and other countries have contributed essays which treat this subject from various angles.

Author : Ben Hills
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2006-12-28
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781101216101

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Princess Masako by Ben Hills Pdf

The tragic true story of Japan's Crown Princess-with a new afterword by the author. It's the fantasy of many young women: marry a handsome prince, move into a luxurious palace, and live happily ever after. But that's not how it turned out for Masako Owada. Ben Hills's fascinating portrait of Princess Masako and the Chrysanthemum Throne draws on research in Tokyo and rural Japan, at Oxford and Harvard, and from more than sixty interviews with Japanese, American, British, and Australian sources-many of whom have never spoken publicly before-shedding light on the royal family's darkest secrets, secrets that can never be openly discussed in Japan because of the reverence in which the emperor and his family are held. But most of all, this is a story about a love affair that went tragically wrong. The paperback edition will contain a new afterword by the author, discussing the impact this book had in Japan, where it was banned.

Author : Ben-Ami Shillony
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2021-10-01
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9789004213999

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Enigma of the Emperors by Ben-Ami Shillony Pdf

This important new and original study on the institution of the Japanese emperors focuses on the enigma of the institution itself, namely, the extraordinary continuity of the Japanese dynasty, which is unknown anywhere else in the world, yet which is now at risk on account of more recent laws of succession.