Were Emperor Hirohito and Tojo Hideki the same guy?
It’s not as simple as there being a ‘Japanese Hitler’. Tojo was a senior Army officer and Secretary of War, then Prime Minister, in the Japanese Cabinet. He was the most prominent and influential of a number of militaristic officers who took control of Japan in the 1930s, by exploiting constitutional weaknesses, by intrigue, and even by assassination and murder. These officers marginalised the pro-Western factions within the Japanese government that held sway in the 1920s, arguing Japan should become more ‘traditional’ and gain an empire. They then marginalised elements in the armed forces who warned that attacking the West was beyond Japan’s power and not in her interests. The Emperor enjoyed the status of a god in japan, and as the militaristic elements took power, they always did so ‘in the name of the Emperor’. All their brutality was ultimately underscored by the assertion that it was the Emperor’s will. By this means it became impossible for anyone to object- because that would h
