The record takes to new lengths the idea that the historian’s task, as Leopold von Ranke put it in the nineteenth century, is to show “what actually happened.” It is said to be an excellent chronicle of the court’s day-to-day goings-on, revealing, for example, that the emperor celebrated Christmas as a boy, that he had nose surgery in his youth, and how often he met with whom.
也许这并不令人奇怪，因为宫内厅的官方编辑团队相当保守。裕仁实录发扬了利奥波德·冯·兰克（Leopold von Ranke）十九世纪所提出的历史学家的任务——记录“实际发生了什么”。据说该实录堪称天皇起居注之典范，比如，它披露裕仁小时候欢庆圣诞节，年轻时鼻子动过手术等等，还记录了他与某人多么频繁地见面。