Showa : the Japan of Hirohito

Showa - the six-decade period of Emperor Horihito's reign, which began in 1926 and ended with his death in 1989 - accounts for fully half of Japan's modern history. It was a turbulent time of aggressive and catastrophic war, defeat and foreign occupation, domestic transformation and spectacular growth. The end of Showa provided and occasion for the Japanese to confront their past and the roots of their present success.