The People's Emperor: Democracy and the Japanese Monarchy, 1945-1995 Book

Compelling, well-researched and accessible critical assessment of the impact of Japanese propaganda during and just after World War II, including some comparison to the competing propaganda of the times. Kushner argues against the more common notions that the Japanese people were driven to and sustained through war by government and military propaganda centred primarily on emperor-worship and racism. He asserts instead that it was nationalistic pride in Japan's superior progress and modernity that allowed the populous to mobilize for war as a nation and to also accept defeat and American occupation so readily.