Introduction; Chapter 1 The making of the Sh?wa Emperor; Chapter 2 Japanese aggression and the limits of imperial influence, 1926–1933; Chapter 3 The challenge of Sh?wa Restoration radicalism, 1931–1937; Chapter 4 The Emperor and war, 1937–1940; Chapter 5 World war and the imperial will, 1941–1945; Chapter 6 The Emperor and the Occupation, 1945–1952; Chapter 7 The politics of imperial symbolism, 1952–1970; Chapter 8 The Emperor and the imperial institution in late Sh?wa Japan, 1970–1989; Conclusion;