Robert Joseph Charles Butow (March 19, 1924 – October 17, 2017) was a professor

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Japanese history at the University of Washington in Seattle. An author of several books, he was a leading authority on Japan during World War II. Robert Butow was born in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

. As a boy, he moved with his family to Menlo Park, California. He subsequently attended college at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he was a member of the Army Reserve, and a student of the Japanese language. When his Army Reserve 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 United States Army 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 Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

, he returned to Stanford.

Publications

His doctoral thesis on the Japanese surrender (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, the prime minister 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