Hirohito

Hirohito or the Showa Emperor, (1901-1989) was the 124th emperor of Japan, 1926-89. He was the symbolic leader of his nation through prosperity (1926-29), depression (1929-41), victory and defeat in World War II (1941-45), the American Occupation (1945-50), and the rapid recovery of Japan to become an economic superpower (1950-86).

Early Life

Hirohito was born at Aoyama Palace, Tokyo, April 29, 1901, son of Emperor Yoshihito, the Taisho Emperor. He was raised by Count and Countess Kawamura, in accordance with the Japanese custom that imperial princes should be reared in a normal household unaffected by the elaborate ceremonial of the royal palace. The Kawamuras also were given charge of Prince Chichibu, Hirohito's younger brother and Kawamura treated them as he would his own grandchildren, subjecting them to a careful discipline. When Hirohito was five years old he and Chichibu were returned to the palace, where a kindergarten was arranged. At the age of eight Hirohito was sent to the Peers' School, where emphasis was placed on discipline, frugality, and diligence. There he was initiated into military training. He also proved an excellent pupil, showing a strong early interest in marine biology, as well as geography and history.

Upon the death in 1912 of his grandfather, Emperor Mutsuhito, Hirohito became heir-apparent to the throne and was commissioned a second lieutenant in both the army and navy. After his graduation in 1914 from the Peers' School, the Crown Prince's Institute was opened for his higher education, which required seven years; five sons of peers were his classmates. Upon his graduation in 1921 he became the first imperial prince ever to tour Europe, March to September 1921, to see how constitutional monarchy worked in Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. The public discovered Hirohito had surprisingly democratic qualities, an eager intelligence, and a shy, quiet manner (the last partly ascribed to his self-consciousness and myopic eyesight). The crown prince returned from his tour to find his father failing rapidly in health, and in November 1921 Hirohito was entrusted with the affairs of government as prince regent. On Jan. 26, 1924, he married Princess Nagako Kuni.

Emperor

On the death of Yoshihito, Dec. 25, 1926, he became emperor; he was formally enthroned in November 1928. Upon becoming emperor he adopted the reign name of Showa, meaning "Radiant Peace," an increasingly ironic term as the increasing military dominations of Japan's government led the country into war, first with China and then with the Western powers.

Hirohito's removal of support for Tanaka Giichi's cabinet was instrumental in its downfall. His forthright opposition to the coup attempted by army officers in the 26 February Incident in 1936 did much to facilitate its suppression. In general his role was more symbolic than powerful, but everything was done in his name and he formally signed off his approvals.

World War II

The emperor, in general, opposed going to war with the United States in 1941, not out of pacifist tendencies but because he was so concerned about a probable Japanese defeat. Yet because his power was so circumscribed by the structure of the imperial government, he eventually became fatalistic about going to war. He continued to oppose going to war until the last minute, but pressure from his military bureaucracy forced his hand.

He played an increasingly important role in the war, visiting devastated cities to maintain civlian and military morale. He delayed surrender until his own status was assured by the United States. Once reassurance came he surrendered all Japanese forces and was permitted to retain his throne.

Occupation and new status

Washington, not General Douglas MacArthur made the decision to retain Hirohito and the imperial institution; the decision evolved out of a wartime assumption that the emperor was central to American plans for postwar Japan and East Asia. Rather than a flash of inspiration from the supreme commander, American policy toward the emperor represented a confluence of motivations that crystallized in the early days of the occupation. MacArthur agrfeed with the policy and orchestrated dramatic public displays, as well as real changes, that made it clear a new era had arrived and that militarism and emperor worship had ended.

On Jan. 1, 1946, just ten years after his imperial title had been changed to Dai Nippon Teikoku Tenno, meaning "Imperial Son of Heaven in Mighty Japan," Hirohito disclaimed his divinity in a statement to his people. Thereafter Hirohito and the imperial family drew closer to their people. In 1958 this change in attitude was reflected in the choice of a commoner, Michiko Shoda, as a bride for Crown Prince Akihito. This broke a 1,500-year tradition requiring future empresses to be from noble families. In 1962 Hirohito published the first of several books on marine biology, a subject in which he did considerable research. In 1971 Hirohito visited Europe, the first visit abroad by a reigning Japanese emperor. In 1975 Hirohito paid an official state visit to the United States. After a long illness, Hirohito died at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 1989.

Image and memory

Following longstanding tradition, on his death everyone in Japan immediately stopped using the name Hirohito and referred to him as the Showa Emperor, and his reign as the Showa Period. Outside Japan, he is still usually known as Hirohito.

Hirohito was violently hated and loathed outside Japan during the war, and was often depicted as a subhuman monster. Brands (2006) examines the shift in American public opinion regarding him after the surrender. Americans, including members of Congress, initially demanded Hirohito's abdication and trial as a war criminal. MacArthur, however, found Hirohito's compliance with the occupation valuable in bringing democratic government to Japan. Hirohito became "humanized" in the American media; stories about his family began to appear, he was photographed in Western dress, and he renounced imperial divinity. News stories out of occupied Japan were censored or slanted to stress reconciliation rather than vengeance, and by June 1946 Americans were accepting the story of Hirohito as a pawn of Japan's military leaders and at the same time were coming to see the Japanese people as willing to accept American political and cultural influences.

Bibliography

• Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan (2000), 816pp, the standard scholarly biography excerpt and text search
• Brands, Hal. "The Emperor's New Clothes: American Views of Hirohito after World War II". Historian 2006 68(1): 1-28. Issn: 0018-2370 Fulltext: Ebsco
• Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999), major scholarly study excerpt and text search
• Harvey, Robert. American Shogun: General MacArthur, Emperor Hirohito, and the Drama of Modern Japan. (2006). 480 pp. popular history
• Kawamura, Noriko. "Emperor Hirohito and Japan's Decision to Go to War with the United States: Reexamined." Diplomatic History 2007 31(1): 51-79. Issn: 0145-2096 Fulltext: Ebsco
• Large, Stephen S. Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: A Political Biography (1997)

See also

• Japan, history