Hirohito — puppet or motivator?

Press, 25 February 1989, Page 22

Hirohito — puppet or motivator?

“Hirohito,” a controversial 8.8. C. documentary which accuses the late Emperor Hirohito of Japan of complicity in war crimes,* and claims that evidence in the trial of a Japanese general was fixed in conjunction with the Americans to ensure the Emperor would not be brought to trial, screens on Sunday at 9.10 p.m. on One.

Until his death last month Emperor Hirohito was the most elusive and controversial ruler on earth and debate continues as to whether he was a . peace loving father-figure or the war criminal that got away.

As the world’s longest reigning monarch, he saw Japan transformed from backward feudalism to powerful war machine, from total devastation to the most aggressive industrial nation on earth. But was this monarch, still deemed a god by many Japanese, the guiding force behind Japan’s involvement in war and the death of millions of servicemen? This one-hour film is both biography — the first on film — and investigation. It is presented by the distinguished journalist and author Edward Behr,

who spent two years researching the Hirohito story. Behr’s investigations unearth fascinating new evidence about the Emperor’s early life, including eye witnesses, diaries and a library of archive footage never shown before.

Behr investigates the carefully contrived public image of Hirohito, the Supreme Being. In the days leading up to Pearl Harbour, Hirohito is portrayed as a passive, reclusive young monarch who did what he was told. But Behr challenges this public image, past and more recent. There is a great deal of evi-

dence to suggest that far from being a puppet, he played a key role in Japan’s history.

Hirohito and the image that surrounds him hold the key to the enigma that is Japan. If Hirohito was not the passive puppet then just how influential was he in the transformation of Japan from medieval to modern power? In particular what have been the Emperor’s relations with the new industrial conglomerates like Sony and Mitsubishi? What are the links between the palace and the murky “yakuza” underworld?