When the Emperor Hirohito died in 1989, Japanese newspapers had to use a special, exalted word to refer to his death, and had to depict his life uncritically, as one beginning in turbulence but ending in magnificent accomplishment. To do otherwise would have exposed them to terrorism from the vigilant right wing. Yet this insightful book by a Japanese-American scholar who grew up in both cultures reveals the hidden fault lines in the realm of the dying emperor by telling the stories of three unlikely dissenters: a supermarket owner who burned the national flag; an aging widow who challenged the state's "deification" of fallen soldiers; and the mayor of Nagasaki, who risked his career and his life by suggesting that Hirohito bore some responsibility for World War II.

Norma Field was born to a Japanese mother and an American father during the occupation of Japan after WWII. She is the Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor in Japanese studies in the East Asian languages and civilizations department at the University of Chicago. She is the author of The Splendor of Longing in the Tale of Genji and the translator of And Then by Natsume Sōseki.