A CONFLICTED MAN: EMPEROR HIROHITO AND THE END OF THE WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES

Although Emperor Hirohito was reluctant to sanction war with the U.S. in 1941, once hostilities began, his task as commander in chief was to support his country’s war efforts. No doubt the atomic bombs and war with the Soviets precipitated Japan’s decision to surrender, but the way the Japanese reached that decision shows that the emperor tacitly worked with the end-the-war faction, who paved the way for the emperor’s decision to accept the Potsdam Declaration and end the war with the understanding that the fate of the imperial Japan would be determined afterward.

NORIKO KAWAMURA
Kawamura is the Arnold M. and Atsuko Craft Professor of History at Washington State University. She authored Emperor Hirohito and the Pacific War, and Turbulence in the Pacific: Japanese–U.S. Relations during World War I.
Her research focuses on the history of war, peace, and diplomacy in the Pacific World. She teaches the history of U.S. foreign relations, U.S. - East Asian relations, U.S. military history, and modern Japanese history. She has contributed several journal articles and book chapters, including “Emperor Hirohito and Japan’s Decision to Go to War with the United States,” Diplomatic History.
Kawamura is currently working on a new book project on Emperor Hirohito’s Cold War under contract with the University of Washington Press.

This video is a recording from The Admiral Nimitz Foundation Annual Symposium 2020
This program was funded in-part by donations from Humanities Texas, Texas Pioneer Foundation, and Enterprise Holdings Foundation.