ends the war. I mean his role is quite clear there, I think, and the question of war responsibility has to include that. Ultimately he's the Head of State and to say that the Head of State is exempt from all things that took place would be to ignore him as the Head of State it seems to me. But Japan was not the Republic, Japan was not an ordinary monarchy, it was one in which the Emperor took charge of day to day affairs. LAURENCE REES : So how much responsibility for the course of the war do you think one should ascribe to him? AKIRA IRIYE : Well, I think there are there are certain points at which the Emperor could have expressed his views more clearly, for example the pact with Germany and whether they shouldn't leave the League of Nations. All these missions and treaties had been approved by the Emperor, so he had many opportunities to say that he would not accept. For example, leaving the League of Nations was a very important point, or going to Manchuria which resulted in the declaration of war, though he could say he was not consulted about it, and that nobody talked to him about it. But once that had happened he might have done something to reprimand the army or to discipline some of the responsible people. Then the Axis Pact. Then of course there is the decision to go to war against the United States, because