How is Emperor Hirohito remembered today?

Answer 1

Emperor Hirohito is remembered as one of the three main Axis leaders in World War II: Hirohito was the leader of Imperial Japan, while Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany, and Mussolini the leader of Fascist Italy.

However, there is considerable controversy about Hirohito's war responsibility among the historians, because of many elements of opaqueness and secrecy around a personage considered as a "living god" at that time, and because of a whitewash of his public image made in consideration of the geostrategic interests of the United States after the war.

Nevertheless, since Hirohito's death many documents have come to light and a growing number of historians asserts that Hirohito played an active role in the Japanese wartime politics. He ruled as the head and coordinator of an oligarchy with a pluralistic decision-making process.

Books like "The Age of Hirohito: In Search of Modern Japan" by Daikichi Irokawa; "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan" by Herbert P. Bix; and "The People's Emperor: Democracy and the Japanese Monarchy, 1945-1995" by Kenneth J. Ruoff" (despite of its title, it includes a great deal of information about Hirohito's role in wartime government, and it explains clearly the Japanese decision-making process, including the active involvement of the emperor) are very useful to this matter. Also, documentaries as "Hirohito's War" of the documentary series "Secrets of War", or "Emperor Hirohito" (BBC, 2005), are very informative.

Answer 2

he was very discrased