Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne

Ben Hills

Penguin, Dec 28, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 336 pages

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.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - briandrewz - LibraryThing

This book must be taken with a grain of salt. While I'm sure Ben Hills gave it his best, it is impossible to know the "whole story" without having talked with the subject of the book herself. I found ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - belinda_h_ - LibraryThing

Out of all the books I have read, there have been few that have been so boring I couldn't even manage to finish them. In fact I can only think of one such book, this one.

About the author

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne
• Author: Ben Hills
• Publisher: Penguin, 2006
• ISBN: 1101216107, 9781101216101
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Royalty; History / Asia / Japan; History / Women