1945年8月6日，美国在日本广岛投下原子弹，震惊世界的毁灭性打击终结了那场人类有史以来最残酷的战争。在此之后，菲勒斯将军（马修·福克斯 Matthew Fox 饰）随同麦克阿瑟（汤米·李·琼斯 Tommy Lee Jones 饰）飞抵日本，处理战后事宜。美军先后将29名日本高官指为战犯并予以逮捕，而对天皇裕仁的处理方面却令他们备感棘手。考虑到菲勒斯对日本的熟悉程度，麦克阿瑟命令他在十天之内就裕仁对战局的影响程度进行评估。深知天皇在日本国民心目中的重要地位，稍有不慎便会引起连锁反应。为此菲勒斯慎重以对，尽可能地去理清神化面纱后一个东方男子的人生轨迹。与此同时，他渴望找到曾有过短暂交往的女孩彩（初音映莉子 饰）。 短暂的十天异国之旅，决定一个国家乃至世界命运的重要时刻……
In the largely unexplored world of the early days of the American Occupation following Japan's catastrophic defeat, Emperor tells a fictionalized account based on the real life story of US Army Brigadier General Bonner Frank Fellers (Mathew Fox) who served under General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones). Fellers is given the impossible task to investigate the Emperor's role in the lead-up to war, most specifically his involvement in the decision to attack Pearl Harbor within ten days. This is a great responsibility to which Fellers, a known Japan aficionado who had spent time in Japan before the war, must handle delicately, or risk a general uprising or worse. He will question the accused Class -A War Criminals such as Wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, Former Prime Minister Konoe, and Koichi Kido while confronting prejudice from a resentful populace and other American soldiers. Complicating this task is General Richter (Colin Moy) who is bent on derailing Fellers' investigation in order to justify revenge upon the Emperor. As Richter conveys the American Public's demand for revenge, "Revenge is not Justice" argues Fellers. To conduct his investigation, Fellers is assigned a staff and further assisted by Takahashi (Haneda Masayoshi) who is assigned to him as both interpreter and driver who serves diligently without reservation. Takahashi is initially treated with cold indifference by Fellers who is both under the strain of his investigation and his preoccupation with finding his pre-war love interest Aya Shimada (Hatsune Eriko) to which Fellers deliberately steered bombing missions away from her home, Richter will attempt to use this information against him. Post-War tensions, dramatic sets, period costume, and an all star international cast make Emperor a most revealing riveting drama of the Post-War Era.
