Robert Joseph Charles Butow (March 19, 1924 – October 17, 2017) was a professor emeritus of Japanese history at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

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. An author of several books, he was a leading authority on Japan during World War II. Robert Butow was born in San Mateo, California. As a boy, he moved with his family to Menlo Park, California. He subsequently attended college at Stanford University, where he was a member of the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

, and a student of the Japanese language. When his

unit was activated, he was selected to attend the Army Japanese Language School.Gorlick, Arthu
"FDR's Secret ‘Tapes’ Reveal Pre-War Tensions; Robert Butow Says a Facetious Remark Led to revelation, "
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (1988-03-27). Butow served in the

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during the early months of the occupation of Japan in 1945 and 1946, and became interested in Japanese history and culture. Upon his discharge as a second lieutenant, he returned to Stanford.

Publications

His

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

(titled ''Japan's Decision to Surrender'') was subsequently published as his first book. His next book, ''Tojo and the Coming of the War'', was in part a biography of

Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assista ...

, the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of Japan during most of World War II, in part an account of the political events in Japan that led to Japan's attack on the U.S., Britain, and Netherlands, and in part an account of the consequences of the War for Japan.''Tojo and the Coming of the War'', p. vii His third book (''The John Doe Associates: Backdoor Diplomacy for Peace, 1941'') was about a small group of Americans who, without diplomatic authority, tried to promote peace with Japan before 1941, but only ended up worsening relations between the two nations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butow, Robert 1924 births 2017 deaths American biographers American male biographers American historians People from Menlo Park, California University of Washington faculty