Rating: 
Summary: Important Work That Will Hopefully Make People Think
Review: I have always been frightened by America's apathetic attitude toward Hirohito.
Why is it so hard to accept that this man was a monster? Historians readily admit
that the Japanese people treated Hirohito like a God, yet will say that he could not
control his armies during the Rape of Nanking. These same people scoff at alleged "holocaust deniers," as they
should. But why do people still view Hirohito as a saint?
The person from Florida (in the review below) is a case in point. He says that we should
read this book "with caution" because of the author's "righteous indignation" over
Hirohito's not being prosecuted for war crimes. If someone had said such things about Hitler he would be mercilously ridiculed
and possibly threatened. Hopefully this book will serve as a wake up call.
Rating: 
Summary: Torture of the Highest Order
Review: I started this book with high hopes, but ended up not finishing it because it became too tedious. Let me preface this point by noting that I regularly read history books, so I do not expect perfect prose and/or excitement at each turn. The writing quality was what many would stereotypically expect of a historian, especially an Asian Studies historian. Specifically, the author spent a great deal of time exploring tangents and nuances, and frankly, the vast array of Japanese names required me to keep a list of dramatis personae while reading. While all of the tangents were (eventually) tied together to make a point, it made for a difficult read. I have no doubt the author did a substantial amount of research, but the finished product was difficult to absorb - it left me feeling as though I was missing something or that I had walked into a lecture halfway before the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping-beginning around page 350
Review: The first part of this book is slow. It's necessary to give a complete picture but I did not find it as interesting as later pages. Once you get to about page 350, the book becomes riveting! That's where Japan begins to think about a war with the US. From then on the book moves really fast ! The author did a super job with details and I can see why it won the Noble Prize.
Rating:
Summary: Read Bergamini's book FIRST:
Review: In 1971, David Bergamini's book, "JAPAN's IMPERIAL CONSPIRACY" was published. You Reviewers of Bix's book, who are confused, say things are missing, boring, or want to chop off Hirohito's head, clearly do not understand Japan's motivations and obviously have NOT read Bergamini's TOME (1239 pages). To understand Bix's book, read Bergamini's book FIRST. Then you will understand why Japan did what it did, and will come to very different conclusions here. Read my Review on "JAPAN'S IMPERIAL CONSPIRACY", get and read Bergamini's book, then re-read Bix's book. Only then can you have a true appreciation for why Bix's book won the Pulitzer Prize.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tome on a dynamic figure
Review: This biography will smash any preconceptions one may have had regarding this figure. One would be hard pressed to find an examination that is more complete in detail. I highly endorse this book to anyone who wishes to have a complete picture of WWII.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed but a little dry
Review: Bix's biography of Emperor Hirohito starts off a little slow. The first third of the book plods slowly through his childhood with great detail, yet rarely giving a glimpse of the "real" Hirohito. I do not fault Bix for the later - Hirohito was from birth isolated from the world, to both his detriment and ours. Once reaching Hirohito's ascent to the throne, the book picks up rapidly, and by the time the work reaches the WWII era, I was wishing it would go slower. While the immediate post-war period was covered in great detail, I was hoping for a bit more about information about his role in influencing Japanese culture from 1960-1989, but I found this section of the book somewhat lacking. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, particularly the parts covering the war era (1930-1945). Bix leaves little doubt as to Hirohito's importance in Japan's unfortunate actions, and places one more dagger into the myth that Hirohito was nothing more than a figurehead.
Rating:
Summary: Culturally, politically & every other way, Japan is
Review: unfathomable to most Americans. Japan has come a long way in 70 years. Thanks to Herbert Bix there is much more light. Not only is this a fine biography on the Emperor Hirohito it is a pretty good history of Japan especially the war years, 1930-1945. Mr. Bix has the propers for the job. He married into a Japanese family, is familiar with the language & had access. This is a book for the average American interested in the subject. It is evident that Hirohito is not the kindly, courteous, humble old man we saw in the last half of the 20th century. It may not have been Mr. Bix purpose but it is evident that Hirohito was a war criminal. His knowledge of the atrocities in China, Pearl Harbor & treatment of POW's is unmistakable. He was very involved in the unsucessful defense of Guaducanal & the unsuccessful attempt to retake it. That he was not not tried as a war criminal was a function of United States foreign policy fronted by General McArthur & a good story in itself. A very interesting but not exactly easy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry, academic, and ultimately not for the layperson
Review: Those of you expecting something akin to William Manchester's engrossing "Last Lion" series about Churchill will be deeply disappointed by this dry, academic, and terribly boring tome about a very interesting character. I read the first 300 pages of this book and had to stop. I learned everything about Hirohito's early childhood and the pampering that he received, I learned about his place in society and how he was revered as a "god on earth". However, I stopped reading. Why? B E C A U S E T H I S B O O K I S S O D A M N B O R I N G Mr. Bix has forsaken style for quantity of research material. This book is packed with facts and detailed descriptions but, like the Japanese royal family itself, the book lacks emotion, feeling, context, and ultimately fails to capture the reader's imagination or attention.
Rating:
Summary: HIROHITO AND MODERN JAPAN
Review: As earlier reviewers have said, this is an excellent book thoroughly researched and providing substantial evidence that Hirohito was directly involved in guiding Japan's war effort. Bix undoubtedly understands that Japanese culture is significantly different from say United States culture, but he errs in not setting his detective story in deeper cultural context, difficult as that may be, rather than (as he does) either taking cultural differences for granted or believing that they are demonstrated by his arguments. Japan even today is profoundly different from the West and the Japanese do not take for granted Western notions such as individuality, individual rights, freedom, democracy etc. I was amazed that a concept such as situational ethics is not once mentioned;...the fact that in Japan, rather than being guided by generalised conceptions of any kind (eg of morality) the Japanese do whatever the rules of the immediate environment indicate will produce least shame (in Ruth Benedicts [ the Chrysanthemum and the Sword] sense of a shame rather than a guilt culture). To give another example, surely it is important to explain, as I think Bix does not, that in Japan there are few if any obligations to gaijin (foreigners). No wonder prisoners of war were mistreated.
Rating:
Summary: Still leaves unanswered questions
Review: This book is certainly the most detailed biography of Hirohito, yet I feel I still don't quite know the man. True, in the early chapters there is much information concerning how he was raised and educated in his youth and how his upbringing influenced his world view as an adult. However reputable biographies of such figures as Churchill, Hitler or Roosevelt use ample eyewitness accounts, documents, or even the writings or recorded conversations of their subjects to make the readers feel they understand their personality's. In this book, since Hirohito has written little on his personal views and since there are few available eyewitness accounts of his conversations or private behavior, one still leaves feeling they do not know or understand the man. The author uses such documents as orders signed by Hirohito to back up many of his claims that the emperor played an active role in Japan's militaristic policy of aggression in Asia from 1931-1942. Yet from what little we can discern from his personality, he was indecisive, lacking in confidence and even timid. When one reads other accounts of Japan during this period, there is some possibility that Hirohito more or less aquiesced to the aggressive policies of his military rather than object due to the fear of being overthrown and replaced by his more warlike younger brother. Thus he may have been more of a cheerleader rather than a true leader or an initiator of policy. My point is this book does not provide sufficient evidence to decide either way. Another weakness is the author is unclear and sketchy in describing how Japan devolved from a constitutional monarchy with a weak/infirm emperor in the early 1920s to a virtual military dictatorship by the 1930's. More could have been written explaining the aggressive policy and the expansion of the conflict with China. Finally, the book is written in a scholarly manner so the average reader may find the style less than absorbing. Bix, while knowledgeable about his subject, is no Barbara Tuchman or Robert Massie. Still, I will give it three stars since there are simply no better books on the subject. But for a better understanding of the evolution of Japanese policy of aggression and expansion I highly recommend Edwin Hoyt's "Japan's War" before reading Hirohito.
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