HIROHITO: EMPEROR OF JAPAN by Leonard Mosley. 371 pages. Prentice-Hall. $7.95.
According to ancient doctrine, Hirohito is the 124th direct descendant of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. All his childhood was a drill in the warrior-centered Shinto religion. When he was eleven, his grandfather, the Emperor, died, and General Nogi, one of Hirohito's beloved tutors, gave him a final traumatic lesson in Shinto. After sitting with him for more than three hours and reviewing the boy's studies, the old general went home to his wife. First, the couple purified themselves in Shinto rites. Then...
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