Name:_______________________
Date:______________________
Questions on the A&E Biography “Hirohito” Part 1
1) When did Emperor Hirohito come to the throne? What was the irony of his reign name, “Showa”?
2) What did the Emperor represent to the Japanese people? How did the military exploit the Emperor’s position?
3) Why did a democracy flourish in Japan in the 1920s? Why was it threatened in the 1930s?
4) Which two factors provided the Japanese military with an excuse to strike out in Japan and China?
5) What did the League of Nations do about the Japanese occupation of Manchuria? How did Japan respond?
6) How did the army interfere in Japanese domestic politics in the 1930s?
7) How were most members of Japanese society brainwashed by the military? Which parts of Japanese society
served most actively in the military? Why?
8) When and why did Japan go to war with China?
9) What was the “Rape of Nanking”? How many Chinese are estimated to have died at that time?
10) Why was China a “bottomless pit” for the Japanese?
Thinking question: Do you think Emperor Hirohito was unable or unwilling to interfere with growing militaristic
aggression?
Questions on the A&E Biography “Hirohito” Part 2
1) Why did Japan feel confident to go ahead with its domination of Southeast Asia? Which French colony in
Southeast Asia came under Japanese control with the German conquest of France?
2) Why did Japan sign a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union? Did the German invasion of the Soviet Union
negate this pact?
3) What actions did the FDR Administration take in response to Japan’s continuing aggression in Asia?
4) Which factor, more than any other, prompted Japan to go to war with the United States?
5) Was the bombing of Pearl Harbor a success for Japan? Explain.
6) Which former British, American, and Dutch colonies were attacked by Japan?
7) With which naval battle did the war in the Pacific turn in favor of the United States? Why was it so important?
Thinking questions
A)
Why did the Japanese government leaders refer to other Asian countries as part of Japan’s “Greater East
Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”? Was Japan interested in the prosperity of these countries? Explain
B)
How do you think Japan’s defeat of imperial powers effected the ambitions of independence minded
natives in Southeast Asian colonies?
Questions on the A&E Biography of Hirohito Part 3
1) General MacArthur promised “I shall return” when he escaped from the Philippines in 1942. When did he
return?
2) What was Japan’s last hope to stop the American fleet?
3) Why were “Kamikaze” willing to sacrifice their lives?
4) What was the effect of the March 9th and 10th firebombing of Tokyo on the civilian population there?
5) Why was Japan unwilling to accept the Potsdam Declaration?
6) Which two events in August, 1945 prompted Japan to surrender?
7) Why did Japanese soldiers and civilians, who were willing to die for the Emperor, finally surrender?
8) When was V-J Day?
9) Who commanded the occupation forces in Japan?
10) Why did the US occupation forces allow Emperor Hirohito to remain on the throne?
11) How many Japanese leaders were tried in the Tokyo war crimes trials? How many were executed?
12) What did the Emperor announce in 1946 that stunned the Japanese? How was his image transformed?