History's Verdict: Hirohito

Heaven's Emperor; Man of Science; Survivor

Extraordinary images, brilliant writing, the latest declassified information, witnesses from among the greatest historians, and the hitherto unknown words of the Emperor himself deliver History’s Verdict on Hirohito.

Opening with the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor and his role in it, we trace how this great admirer of the Western world had overseen his country's march to war with both the United States of America and the British Empire.

We learn of his childhood cloistered away from the world. Yet how he visits Europe and learns what freedom is.

We see how his legendary grandfather overshadowed his mentally ill father.

We bear witness to the many attempts on his life. We watch his country modernize rapidly, yet face many threats, both internal and external. And we see how Hirohito reacts to all of this.

Japan's atrocities in China are revealed and we investigate whether the Emperor was in any way responsible.

We examine the truth behind the myth of his so-called divine nature.

Hirohito's contributions to the Second World War receive the most detailed examination yet.

And we watch how he helps save a country already blasted by atomic attack from the almost certain annihilation of national suicide and colossal invasion.

How he saves himself from Western retribution and guides his nation to decades of prosperity and peace.

The Second World War's most enigmatic leader is revealed more clearly than in any other documentary ever made in English.