| A: | Well, Hirohito was not my hero. |
| C: | Most people will probably never know the actual man behind the symbol. |
| B: | It's meaningless to discuss the Japanese emperor without also considering the broader historical context. At the time of his life, some type of collision between Japan and the West seemed almost inevitable. |
| D: | That sounds like a glib endorsement of the atrocities perpetuated under Hirohito's name. |
| B: | Fascism and colonialism have certainly caused unspeakable misery. The only point I would make is that we have no right to feel self-righteous: every civilization is guilty of misdeeds. |
| A: | We need to avoid self-righteous scapegoating. Too many people points the finger at others for sins which, at some point in time, they have committed themselves. |
| C: | On hindsight, Hirohito seems to have many of the contradictions inherent in all humans - just magnified on a bigger scale. At various times in his life, he was a militarist, shrewd politician, marine biologist, and a retiring old man. Few people will ever know the mosaic that he was. |
| D: | Do most people care enough to even wonder? History moves on and even great figures eventually become buried in dust. |
Whose hero was Hirohito Hironomiya?
Was he worth dying for?
Was he a puppet propped up by imperialists -
or point of a holy sword?
Once
God to sixty million
in dashing uniform
surrounded by tanks
Mitsubishi fighters
and gold chrysanthemums
Now
a tiny pot of ash
in an oversized grave -
that little Mickey Mouse lover
conquered half the world
for nearly a thousand days
Hear the author read this poem.
[288 K /.MP3 file]