Editing Hirohito (section)

====Vice Interior Minister Yuzawa's account on Hirohito's role in Pearl Harbor raid====
In late July 2018, the bookseller Takeo Hatano, an acquaintance of the descendants of [[Michio Yuzawa]] (Japanese Vice Interior Minister in 1941), released to Japan's ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'' newspaper a memo by Yuzawa that Hatano had kept for nine years since he received it from Yuzawa's family. The bookseller said: "It took me nine years to come forward, as I was afraid of a backlash. But now I hope the memo would help us figure out what really happened during the war, in which 3.1 million people were killed."<ref name="Yuzawa-memo" />

Takahisa Furukawa, expert on wartime history from Nihon University, confirmed the authenticity of the memo, calling it "the first look at the thinking of Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister [[Hideki Tojo]] on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor."<ref name="Yuzawa-memo" />

In this document, Yuzawa details a conversation he had with Tojo a few hours before the attack. The Vice Minister quotes Tojo saying:

{{blockquote|"The Emperor seemed at ease and unshakable once he had made a decision."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}
{{blockquote|"If His Majesty had any regret over negotiations with Britain and the U.S., he would have looked somewhat grim. There was no such indication, which must be a result of his determination. I'm completely relieved. Given the current conditions, I could say we have practically won already."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}

Historian Furukawa concluded from Yuzawa's memo:

{{blockquote|"Tojo is a bureaucrat who was incapable of making own decisions, so he turned to the Emperor as his supervisor. That's why he had to report everything for the Emperor to decide. If the Emperor didn't say no, then he would proceed."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}