Hirohito

A court.

Emperor's

court.

Emperor's court.

Oh, I thought you said like he established a solution.

I thought you said

Guest list.

He invited 2,500 foreign dignitaries.

who were the military police arm of the army, but who also acted as the secret police within Japan itself, as well as its occupied territories.

In 1926, the Japanese Emperor Yoshihito, the son of Emperor Meiji, died and was replaced by his young and timid son, the 124th Emperor Hirohito, who would largely, due to his inexperience, come increasingly under the influence of the now powerful militarists within the Japanese government, particularly factions within the army and navy, through the country's minister of war, who was only accountable to the emperor himself and had held a veto over all policy decisions within Japan since the turn of the century.

In 1928, Tojo was promoted to the rank of Colonel and placed in command of the 1st Inventory Regiment of the Imperial Army and, during this period, he earned the respect and admiration of those under him, as he fostered close relations with his subordinate officers and became well respected for his organizational skills as well as his insistence on the adoption of strict discipline.

This in turn gained him another promotion in 1934 to the rank of Major General in the Personnel Department of the Army Ministry, which was the conduit between the army and the government.

The prosecution that was led by the former US Attorney General of Ohio, Joseph Keenan, who had formerly overseen the prosecutions of some of America's most notorious gangsters, including Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone, rejected Tojo's claims as militaristic propaganda and presented the tribunal with evidence that Tojo had been fully aware of the mistreatment of prisoners and civilians by the Japanese army in so-called Class B war crimes.

In response, Tojo rejected Kenan's accusations as he claimed that killing people in wartime could hardly be seen as criminal.

However, both he and his fellow defendants unanimously accepted that starting the war had been their decision and continually stated that the Emperor Hirohito had only approved the instigation of hostilities due to their advice.

This was the militarists' last act of service to their master, as to them, the emperor was still, after all, a living god, who was blameless and above reproach.

I, I love your example of Truman.

Uh, I just read James Scott's, um, uh, great book, uh, Hirohito, Truman, and the Destruction of Japan.

Uh, Empire of Ashes, it's called.

It's just such a great story, but I didn't know that much about Truman.

He knows, he knows fucking, he knows history.

This is fucking Emperor Hirohito right here.

[laughs]

You're Emperor Hirohito.

This motherfu- this motherfucker's coming, dude.

You're the Sun God.

Hello.

I don't think-

Which the book argues was essential to finally break the deadlock.

It forced Emperor Hirohito to intervene and overrule his generals.

For the first time, the Emperor spoke directly to his people, telling them to endure the unendurable.

That moment is heartbreaking.

He spoke in this formal, archaic language that many of his subjects couldn't even understand, but they got the message.