The assessment of the Emperor as an agent of militarism, nationalism and war seems to be a strange one for American political leaders of the 18th century to have made. It does not conform to the views of modern historians about the political role of the Emperor. The prevailing opinion now is that Emperor Meiji was merely a figurehead for the genro (capitalist elite), whom he supported, and later became a tool for the military and pro-military bureaucracy, with whom he disagreed but was unwilling to formally oppose. Historian Mikiso Hane says that the Emperor was, in fact, so passive that the army actively tried to change his image into that of a war hawk with dramatic photo spreads, but that these were unsuccessful, and the Emperor retained the reputation within Japan of being a strictly civil emperor - a dramatic dissimilarity from his image outside of Japan.

The author of the passage would most probably disagree with which of the following assertions?

A. The Emperor did not want to get into an open confrontation with the military
B. Contrary to his public image, the Emperor was actually a very belligerent individual
C. The Emperor was seen by the American political leaders as a military dictator
D. The Emperor was not actually the war hawk that the army tried to project him as
E. Modern historians' view of the Emperor is different from that of American political leaders of the 18th century