MacArthur vs. Ex-Prime Minister
There was one politician of the Empire of Japan who played a key role in the period of time leading to the Pearl Harbor Attack, since Konoe tried to avoid the war despite strong movement for the war in the imperial military.
Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1891 – 1945) was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumimaro_Konoe
While the Emperor received detailed reports from Sugiyama and Nagano about the operations in Southeast Asia and the attack of Pearl Harbor,[5] Prime Minister Konoe made one last desperate attempt to avoid war. That very evening, he arranged a secret dinner conference with American Ambassador Joseph Grew. He told Grew that he was prepared to travel to meet Roosevelt on a moment's notice. The ship had already been prepared. He was convinced that the United States and Japan could reach a true agreement, and when that happened, he would radio back to the palace, and the Emperor would issue a rescript ordering a complete halt to all aggressive activities.
Ambassador Grew was impressed with Konoe's sincerity. He cabled back, urging his superiors to advise Roosevelt to accept the summit proposal. The State Department continued to think that an open-ended summit was a waste of time. If Japan were serious, it would begin meaningful and detailed negotiations that would be affirmed at a summit. Konoe's last push for a diplomatic solution was taken in vain.
One day when Konoe was prime minister of the Empire, a strange man came to meet him. The man brought a big amount of paper money. He said to Konoe, "I hope that you will use this money at your will."
So, Prime Minister Konoe got angry, forcing the strange man to leave immediately with his money.
However, at the time, Konoe worried about insufficient secret funds in the prime minister office, since he assumed the position in the middle of a fiscal year. But later, the finance minister of his cabinet told Konoe that past prime ministers booked secret funds for the prime minister office as part of expenditures for the Imperial Army and Navy. So, of course, Konoe started to follow suit.
Anyway Konoe was well known for his strict handling of money.
After the Empire of Japan surrendered, Konoe started to try to draft new Japanese Constitution. Konoe met General MacArthur, the supreme commander of the allied forces occupying Japan, to get consent and support for his effort. But when General MacArthur knew that Konoe's draft or idea was to continue the imperial system as it had been before the end of WWII, General MacArthur changed his attitudes toward Konoe. MacArthur ordered to arrest Konoe as a war criminal. Then Fumimaro Konoe committed a suicide before being taken to a prison.
The new Japanese Constitution strongly reflects General MacArthur's idea that the emperor of Japan should be a symbol of unification of all the Japanese people but not a constitutional sovereign ruler like he had been in the Empire of Japan before the end of WWII.
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Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.