Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (272 page)

55.
“When I made cabinet reports to the throne,” Admiral Okada later recollected, “His majesty would clearly reply ‘yes' when he agreed but say nothing when he disagreed. On occasions when he took issue with documents that were offered him, he frequently kept them in his hand.” Cited in Yoshida Yutaka, “Tenn
no sens
sekinin,” in Fujiwara et al.,
Tenn
no Sh
washi
(Shin Nihon Shuppansha, 1984), p. 43.

56.
Shibata Shinichi,
Sh
wa-ki no k
shitsu to seiji gaik
(Hara Shob
, 1995), p. 32. On March 4, 1936, the emperor told Honj
:
…to pay careful attention to the words I use because if they are too strong, then once again it will cause resentment against the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. As for myself, I deeply regret that they murdered my most loyal and trusted ministers and general. This is like strangling me with raw silk. What they did violated both the constitution and the rescripts of the Meiji emperor.
Shibata, pp. 34–35.

57.
“Case 212, Hirota k
ki,” in Awaya Kentar
, Yoshida Yutaka, eds.,
Kokusai kensatsu kyoku (IPS) jinmon ch
sho, dai 28 kan
(Nihon Tosho Sent
, 1993), pp. 414, 417, 506. Hirota later denied having restricted the candidates for ministerial position to the active duty list, since prime ministers were still permitted to search the inactive list and to have reserve officers appointed to the ministerial position.