Hirohito

Hirohito (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989) was the 124th Emperor of Japan who reigned from 1926 to 1989. Since his death he has been known as Emperor Sh?wa (????, Sh?wa tenn?) in Japan, although he is widely referred to as Hirohito, or Emperor Hirohito, outside of Japan. Before his death, he was simply addressed as Tenn? Heika (lit. His Majesty the Son of Heaven).

Last days of the war

In early 1945, in the wake of the loss of Leyte, the Emperor began a series of individual meetings with senior government officials to consider the progress of the war. All but one advised continuing. The exception was ex-Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, who feared a communist revolution even more than defeat and urged a negotiated surrender. Hirohito took the view that peace was essential but that the armed forces would have to engineer a conspicuous military victory somewhere in order to provide a stronger bargaining position. With each passing week this became less likely. In April the Soviet Union issued notice that it would not renew its neutrality agreement. Japan's ally Germany surrendered in early May 1945. In June, the cabinet reassessed the war strategy, only to decide more firmly than ever on a fight to the last man. This was officially affirmed at a brief Imperial Council meeting, to which the Emperor listened in stony-faced silence.

Related Topics:
Leyte - Fumimaro Konoe - Communist - Soviet Union - Germany

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The following day, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Koichi Kido prepared a draft document which summarised the hopeless military situation and proposed a negotiated settlement. According to some sources, the Emperor privately approved of it and authorised Kido to circulate it discreetly amongst the less hawkish cabinet members; others suggest that the Emperor was indecisive, and that the mixed signals from the palace delayed the peace process, costing many tens of thousands of Japanese and Allied lives. By mid-June the cabinet had agreed to approach the Soviet Union to act as a mediator, though not before the bargaining position had been improved by a repulse of the coming Allied invasion of mainland Japan.

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On June 22, Hirohito broke tradition once again to speak to his ministers, saying "I desire that concrete plans to end the war, unhampered by existing policy, be speedily studied and that efforts be made to implement them." The attempt to negotiate a peace via the Soviet Union came to nothing: the Allies were determined not to settle for anything short of "unconditional surrender", and as late as July 1945 neither the Emperor nor his government were prepared to consider that option: they insisted on at least one condition, a guarantee of the emperor's continuing position in Japanese society.

Related Topics:
June 22 - Unconditional surrender

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