Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

Rating:
Summary: Subtle and comprehensive
Review: This is an exhaustive yet finely wrought history. It is the best book in any language on post-war Japan. It is one of the finer books ever written about the impact of sudden and massive change on culture, language and the way people view history, themselves, and the world around them.

A great strength of the book - but also, perhaps, its only weakness - is the enthusiasm, and (there is no other word for it) innocence of the author. Dower is a sophisticated scholar immersed in the delicacies of inter-cultural and inter-racial exchange, as well as in Japanese language, history, and culture. But he retains a child-like delight in laying-bear the mental universes, attitudes and foibles of the Japanese and their American occupiers. In this, despite Dower's intimacy with the Japanese, the book has an attractive and profoundly American feel.

The enthusiastic welcome Dower gives to all his source material is a strength. It allows him to remain open to information from a huge range of sources, many of them untapped by other historians. But - if only rarely - it also makes him less critical than he needs to be. Dower accepts at face value the near-instantaneous post-war 'conversion' of many Japanese from ultra-nationalist chest-thumpers to apostles of 'peace' and 'democracy'. In many cases, as Dower manages to explain, these conversions were genuine. But many of them were not. In particular, it is impossible to accept the post-war protestations of many artists and writers and who, only weeks before, were pillars of the war-time Imperial propaganda machine.

From his writing, Dower is obviously a deeply humane man with a belief in the value of democracy and the ability of human beings to change their worlds for the better. This attitude is one of the things that makes his book so good, and such a joy to read. But is also limits Dower's ability to see as deeply, or to judge as harshly, as he sometimes should.


Rating:
Summary: Was Hirohito a war criminal?
Review: Yes. But it was probably a bit much to get a definitive answer, even from John Dower's fine book. He does discuss the subject at some length. That & the war trails were my favorite parts of the book (audio).
It served American foreign policy at the time to not prosecute Hirohito & leave him on the throne. It allowed Japanese to cling to a shred of pride that indeed, they did not surrender unconditionally. It made occupation much easier & assured civil peace. Actually he was a criminal but many of his ministers & generals were willing to die for their emperor. So they did. He was quite willing to let them. What a man. The Japanese hero worship of General McArthur was almost embarassing. I don't know why, but I thought of the reverence we once held for George Washington in the 18th century. The Japanese got over McArthur.
The irony is the decidely undemocratic way we imposed democracy on Japan. Apparently nobody listen to the unabridged audio version as I did.