Princess Masako : Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne

by Hills, Ben

• ISBN13: 9781585426102
• ISBN10: 1585426105
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-27
• Publisher: Tarcher

Summary

The tragic true story of Japan's Crown Princess-with a new afterword by the author. It's the fantasy of many young women: marry a handsome prince, move into a luxurious palace, and live happily ever after. But that's not how it turned out for Masako Owada. Ben Hills's fascinating portrait of Princess Masako and the Chrysanthemum Throne draws on research in Tokyo and rural Japan, at Oxford and Harvard, and from more than sixty interviews with Japanese, American, British, and Australian sources-many of whom have never spoken publicly before-shedding light on the royal family's darkest secrets, secrets that can never be openly discussed in Japan because of the reverence in which the emperor and his family are held. But most of all, this is a story about a love affair that went tragically wrong. The paperback edition will contain a new afterword by the author, discussing the impact this book had in Japan, where it was banned.

Author Biography

Ben Hills, one of Australia's leading investigative journalists and foreign correspondents, is a winner of the Walkley Award (Australia's Pulitzer) and the Graham Perkin Award for Australian Journalist of the Year. From 1992 to 1995, he was the Japan correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, also covering issues and events in China, Siberia, and North and South Korea. His previous books are Japan: Behind the Lines, an account of his three years as a correspondent in Japan, and Blue Murder, a chronicle of the battle for justice by victims of CSR's Wittenoom asbestos mine in western Australia. He lives in Sydney.

Table of Contents

Map of Japan	p. vii
Genealogy of the Japanese Imperial Family	p. viii
Preface	p. xi
The Men in Black	p. 1
Daddy's Girl	p. 30
Mummy's Boy	p. 55
The Last Emperor	p. 84
Magna Cum Laude	p. 90
The Dreaming Spires	p. 122
By Royal Appointment	p. 156
The Pledge	p. 160
Heir Unapparent	p. 188
The Hand of God	p. 214
The Black Dog	p. 240
No Happy Ending	p. 271
Epilogue	p. 288
Glossary	p. 293
References	p. 297
Index	p. 299
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