<p>Was Hirohito <em>really</em> as passive as history has painted him? Emperor Hirohito stood at the head of Japan’s war machine, yet after 1945, both the Japanese and the Americans painted him as a powerless observer.</p><br><p>But is passivity just as bad as collusion? In this episode, Dan is joined by Christopher Harding, lecturer in Asian History at the University of Edinburgh and strategy expert Professor Phillips O'Brien at the University of St Andrews to examine Japan's catastrophic wartime strategy, its army's brutality and debate how much of the responsibility for that lies with Hirohito.</p><br><p><strong>Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide warfare.</strong></p><br><p>If you would like to subscribe to Chris' substack, then it can be found at <a href="http://www.illuminasia.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.IlluminAsia.org</a>.</p><br><p>Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore</p><br><p>Phillips' book that inspired this series is called 'The Strategists' and is available now.</p><br><p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.</p><br><p>We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: <a href="https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on</a>.</p><br><p>You can also email the podcast directly at <a href="mailto:ds.hh@historyhit.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ds.hh@historyhit.com</a>.</p>
