I recently wrote an email to Ben Hills, author of Princess Masako–Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne, to tell him about the discussion we are having here. I even invited him to drop in and take part if he felt so inclined. Understandably, he politely declined the invitation, but he sent back the statement below which he had previously issued to various wire services.

In his reply to me, Mr. Hills also had the following to say:

I would invite your subscribers to check on the history of the Chang book, and to note the remarkable similarities to my case. The book was a worldwide bestseller, a Japanese publisher agreed to translate it and publish it in Japan, the Japanese Ambassador in Washington called a Press conference to denounce its “innacuracies” (which no other historians in the world had noticed in their favourable reviews of the book) — and, lo and behold, the Japanese publisher declined to go ahead with the publication, citing “errors.” Sound familiar?

He also said but that he would be happy to reply to resonable questions from JAPUNDIT readers that are sent to him through me, so here is your chance. Please use the comments below this note to ask any questions you might have about the Mr. Hills or the the book, and I will be happy to send them along.

Statement by Ben Hills

The publisher, Kodansha, cited no reasons for his decision to cancel publication of my book, Princess Masako–Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne — in his email to me on Friday. However, I see from their press release that they are citing my refusal to apologise to the Japanese government for criticisms voiced in the book. I see also that Kodansha is claiming that there were many mistakes in the book.

I want to make two things clear. First that my Australian publisher, Random House,and I refused to apologise because we felt — and feel — that there is nothing to apologise for. The only person who deserves an apology is Princess Masako — the Kunaicho should apologise for destroying her mental health. Secondly, there were a few minor errors in the book, but this was not the reason for Kodansha cancelling the publication. Kodansha had edited the book and removed the errors, and I signed off on their text this week. On Wednesday Kodansha were happy to publish the book. On Friday they cancelled. The Japanese people are not fools — they understand what happened, and that was that the Japanese government bullied Kodansha, and Kodansha surrendered.

Although we are disappointed we are not surprised. The Japanese government has exercised this ‘censorship by stealth’ before. Remember Iris Chang’s book The Rape of Nanking? This was a world-wide best-seller, but never published in Japan because the government bullied the Japanese publisher into bowdlerising the book to the extent that it was unacceptable to the author. In that case, also, the publisher claimed there were “errors” in the book — these were errors that no other historians in the world could see. Why do you think Japanese history books talk about “incidents” rather than massacres, and “advances” rather than invasions? Because they are censored by the government, and any author who does not toe the line is subject to the same sort of treatment as Iris Chang and me.

What they are really objecting to is my criticism of the Kunaicho, the Imperial Household Agency, who have so persecuted Masako that she has developed a serious mental illness. Secondly, they do not want the Japanese people to know what people in every other country have been able to read for four years since The Times of London broke the story — that Masako’s child, Princess Aiko, is an IVF baby. The reason for their wanting to suppress this are twofold. First, if donor sperm were used (it is not known whether this was the case) and a baby boy born as a result that would have broken the male lineage which Japanese legend has it goes back 2600 years. Secondly, if Naruhito was the one with the fertility problem (a 50/50 chance, according to IVF specialists) that would have been seen as somehow ‘unmanly’ and unfitting for an emperor-to-be. Such are the social prejudices of the Kunaicho.

The simple fact of the matter is this: I do not worry whether people love my book or hate my book, but they should be given the chance to read it for themselves and make up their own minds. The Japanese government will not allow them this basic right. It is censorship that would be totally unacceptable in any other advanced country, the sort of thing you would expect in a place like Burma or North Korea. The Japanese people should rise up in protest against this — in fact, many of them have contacted me by email today to voice their support the publication of the book in Japan. My website has received more than 250,000 hits in four days, twice what I normally get in a year, with half of them coming from Japan — that will tell you the degree of interest there is in the book.

I have already been contacted by three courageous Japanese publishers, and I am hopeful that next week we will have an agreement with one of them to publish the book. This is a matter which will be decided by my Australian publisher, Random House, which has world-wide rights. It will also be up to Random House whether to take legal action over this breach of contract.

Finally, the effect of this affair is the opposite of what the Kunaicho and the Gaimusho wanted. It has made me more popular in Japan than Harry Potter — check the Japanese Amazon.com site and you will see.

Ben Hills’ website is located here.