Kirsty Griffin – © 2012 Fellers Film, LLC Tommy Lee Jones as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in "Emperor"

TOKYO – What with historical and territorial disputes with its neighbors and a rightward tilt in government, this might not seem the best time for a big-budget Hollywood production to come along and examine whether Japan’s wartime emperor, Hirohito, should have been hanged as a war criminal rather than enlisted in the effort to rebuild the shattered country.

But, no problem. “Emperor” is sure to be a box office hit here.

The movie stars Academy Award-winner Tommy Lee Jones as Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was charged with deciding Hirohito’s fate in the frantic weeks following Japan’s surrender in World War II. Jones is the star of enormously popular television ads in Japan, so viewers are likely to forgive him no matter what he decides. (The ads are for canned coffee, by the way.)

The movie also has a sub-plot featuring a handsome American officer searching for his long-lost Japanese girlfriend. You can guess where that one fits on the historical accuracy charts, but it helps take the edge off. “Emperor” opens in the United States on Friday, and in July in Japan.

In truth, Japan has struggled for decades with the issue of war guilt. More than two-dozen senior officials were hanged or imprisoned as “Class A” war criminals while MacArthur was Japan’s de facto ruler. Thousands of others were jailed on lesser charges.