Diary reveals Hirohito war doubts

BBC ^ | Friday, March 9, 2007 | Steve Jackson

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Did Hirohito play an active part in planning and conducting the war?

Japanese emperor Hirohito expressed doubts about going to war with China in the 1930s and 40s, extracts from a diary of one of his advisers reveal.

They show Hirohito was afraid the Soviet Union would intervene.

The diary by Kuraji Ogura, who worked as a chamberlain to Hirohito in World War II, was found recently and parts have been published in Japan's media.

The full text may help solve the debate about how much responsibility the emperor had for Japan's wartime action.

South Pacific visit

The document is 600 pages long and includes an account of Ogura's experiences between 1939 and 1945.

According to a diary entry in October 1940, Hirohito expressed concern that the Japanese army had underestimated China when it launched a full-scale invasion in 1937.

A later extract quotes Hirohito as saying he had not wanted the war with China to begin, because he was afraid the Soviet Union would intervene.

However, in another section of the diary - more of which is due to be published on Saturday - Hirohito appeared to be more optimistic.

He said he hoped to visit the South Pacific after the war, a region he believed would by then be part of Japanese territory.

Hirohito never spoke to the public until the Japanese surrender in 1945, so his assistant's diary does shed some interesting light on his views.

The full text may reveal whether he was carried along by his advisers and the military or played an active part in the planning and conduct of the war.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The author of the article is a "Steve Jackson." Sorry for not posting it in the posting article form thing.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The author of the article is by a "Steve Jackson." Sorry for not posting it in the posting article form thing.

[Red Badger]

He say it was quagmire?.............

[Snickersnee]

Another "recently found" diary by a principal in WW2... ho, hum. No, it won't serve to exculpate the Emperor of the Sun. He's lucky it was MacArthur who got to him first.

[ClearCase_guy]

It says interesting things about Imperial Japan that more than 60 years after the war, people still are not sure if the country's leader was in favor of the war his country started.

[PGalt]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Sure thing.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

It also suggests that ordinary Japanese might be getting the hint that the rest of the world wants them to finally own up for their part in World War 2.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

MacArthur was supposed to be lenient toward the Japanese? (an actual question).

[Cyclopean Squid]

This Steve Jackson?



NFL star during the season, historian during the offseason. Nice.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Could be......though guessing not.

[Cyclopean Squid]

I choose to believe it is. :)

[Bringbackthedraft]

This could be another case like the Hitler Diaries.

[TexanToTheCore]

Hirohito was a big part of the problem. Next question, puhlease....

[jamaksin]

" ... was in favor of the war his country started."

Which war was that?

If you meant World War Two ... then your "start" date would be September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.

[jamaksin]

" ... was in favor of the war his country started."

Which war was that?

If you meant World War Two ... then your "start" date would be September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.

[hinckley buzzard]

It says interesting things about Imperial Japan that more than 60 years after the war, people still are not sure if the country's leader was in favor of the war his country started.

To use the honorable vernacular of the American GI circa 1944, "Too late now, you nipponese M---F---."

[dfwgator]

If you meant World War Two ... then your "start" date would be September 1939, when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland.

There, fixed it.

[hinckley buzzard]

MacArthur was supposed to be lenient toward the Japanese? (an actual question).

Yes. Read some history. MacArthur was more lenient than the Japanese had any right to expect.