Emperors of the Rising Sun

The history of modern Japan cannot be conceived without reference to its emperors. Japan became a modern nation during the reign of Emperor Meiji from 1868 to 1912, experienced an interlude for a good part of the reign of Emperor Taisho (1912-26), and then suffered defeat in war and rose from its ashes during the reign of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) from 1926 to 1989.

What role did the three emperors play in forming the policies of government and influencing the course the country would take? How did their personalities affect this role? What kind of men, in fact, were they? It is such questions as these that the author, Stephen S. Large, winner of the Ohira Prize for his book on Emperor Hirohito, attempts to answer.

From Emperors of the Rising Sun: Three Biographies the reader will not only gain an insight into the lives and characters of the three emperors but will also acquire an understanding of the inner workings of Japanese politics and a knowledge of the behind-the-scenes stories that determined the kind of nation that Japan would become. In short, Emperors of the Rising Sun is enjoyable as well as insightful, a delight for anyone interested in the history of Japan or the roles that emperors have played in modern times.

Stephen S. Large is a Reader in Modern Japanese history at Cambridge University. In 1993 he was awarded the Ohira Masayoshi Prize for Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: A Political Biography.