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.

The Showa Period covers the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989), encompassing war and destruction of the Japanese empire, the occupation, recovery from the ruins of war and Japan's emergence as an economic superpower. But what defines Showa historically? What sets Showa apart from the history of Meiji and Taisho Japan? Whereas historians have traditionally approached this question by splitting prewar and postwar the emphasis in this anthology is on long-term continuities which were decisive in shaping modern Japan. The readings address such crucial issues as the nature of the imperial...

First published in 1981, this book, a political history of organised labour in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s, broke ground in research on the Japanese socialist movement by examining the movement from the perspective of the unions, which then provided the socialist parties with much of their popular support. Focusing on the Japan General Federation of Labour, an important pacesetter for labour politics, the author analyses why a significant cross-section of organised workers began the 1920s with promising vitality and high hopes of contributing to a progressive, socialist reconstruction of...