An excellent review of Goto Kenichi's Tensions of Empire by Bill Sewell. Says Sewell:

His views are particularly useful in that, like other recent scholars, he does not
dismiss entirely the published views of prewar and wartime Japanese
leaders as mere propaganda. Instead, taking them seriously--though
critically--Goto instructively recalls views once common in the colonial
world, views that prewar Japanese leaders sought to use to their
advantage, views that resonate even today.