Hirohito & His Times

Written by a Japanese historian, this is an evenhanded if plodding review of Emperor Hirohito's role in national life. At once colorless and highly controversial, Hirohito (1901-1989), we're shown, was vaguely ``for peace'' in the early days of his 62-year reign and made an attempt to demystify the throne, but he was unable to override court rigidity or control the expansionist tendencies of the militarists, which led to war in China and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kawahara describes the stormy controversy during the U.S. Occupation over whether the emperor should remain on the throne as a ``living god,'' or be tried as a war criminal. Hirohito's tragic flaw, concludes the author, was his inability to exercise his power as commander-in-chief and check the excesses of the military. (May)