Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (206 page)

39.
Quoted in Sasaki Ry
ji,
Gendai tenn
sei no kigen to kin
(Sh
wa Shuppan, 1990), p. 88.

40.
Hara Kei nikki, dai ky
kan
, p. 149, entry of Dec. 8, 1920; Suzuki, “Taish
demokurashii to kokutai mondai,” p. 59.

41.
On Dec. 11, 1920, while pleading with Yamagata not to resign his presidency of the privy council, Hara observed that the regency was of vital importance because “[t]he third generation is crucial for both the imperial family and the families of subjects. The Tokugawa family established itself through Iemitsu, the third shogun. Although Germany failed, the third emperor brought it to the height of its prosperity.” The notion that dynastic lineages ossify quickly after a certain length of time is of ancient origin and can be found in many civilizations.

42.
Suzuki, “Taish
demokurashii to kokutai mondai,” pp. 59–60.

43.
Hara nikki, dai ky
kan
, p. 118; cited in ibid., p. 59.

44.
Telegram from Shidehara to Foreign Minister Uchida, as cited in Hatano Masaru, “Taish
j
nen k
taishi h
-
: sono kettei e nopurosesu to seika,” in
Kei
Gijuku Daigaku H
gaku kenky
(July 1993), p. 47; see also Kisaka Junichir
, “Minsh
ishiki no henka to shihai taisei no d
y
,” in Fujiwara Akira, ed.,
Minsh
no rekishi 8, Dan'atsu no arashi no naka de
(Sanseid
, 1975), p. 76.