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).

World War II

In the immediate aftermath of the war, many believed that the Sh?wa Emperor was an evil mastermind behind the war while others claimed that he was simply a powerless figurehead. Many people in China, Taiwan, Korea and South-East Asia see Hirohito as Asia's Hitler of World War II, and some feel he should have been tried for war crimes. Because of this, many Asians residing in countries that were victims of Japanese aggression retain a hostile attitude towards the Japanese Imperial Family. The central question is how much real control Hirohito had over the Japanese military during the two wars. The view promoted by both the Japanese Imperial Palace and the American occupation forces immediately after World War II had Hirohito behaving strictly according to protocol, remaining at a distance from the decision making processes. On the other hand, Herbert Bix has recently produced a large amount of evidence suggesting that the emperor worked through intermediaries to exercise a great deal of control over the military, and that he was, in fact, the prime mover of most of the events of the two wars.

Related Topics:
Figurehead - Hitler - War crime - Protocol - Herbert Bix

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On September 4, 1941, the Japanese Cabinet met to consider the war plans prepared by Imperial General Headquarters, and decided that:

Related Topics:
September 4 - 1941

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:Our Empire, for the purpose of self-defence and self-preservation, will complete preparations for war ... ... resolved to go to war with the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands if necessary. Our Empire will concurrently take all possible diplomatic measures vis-a-vis the United States and Great Britain, and thereby endeavor to obtain our objectives ... In the event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.

Related Topics:
United States - Great Britain - Netherlands - October

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The "objectives" to be obtained were clearly defined: a free hand to continue with the conquest of China and South-east Asia, no increase in US or British military forces in the region, and cooperation by the West "in the acquisition of goods needed by our Empire".

Related Topics:
China - South-east Asia

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On September 5, Prime Minister Konoe informally submitted a draft of the decision to the Emperor, just one day in advance of the Imperial Conference at which it would be formally implemented. According to the traditional view (again, contradicted by Bix's research), Hirohito was deeply concerned by the decision to place "war preparations first and diplomatic negotiations second" and announced his intention to break with centuries-old protocol and, at the Imperial Conference on the following day, directly question the chiefs of the Army and Navy general staffs — a quite unprecedented action. Konoe quickly persuaded Hirohito to summon them for a private conference instead, at which the Emperor made it plain that a peaceful settlement was to be pursued "up to the last". Chief of Naval General Staff Admiral Osami Nagano, a former Navy Minister and vastly experienced, later told a trusted colleague "I have never seen the Emperor reprimand us in such a manner, his face turning red and raising his voice."

Related Topics:
September 5 - Konoe - Osami Nagano

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Nevertheless, all speakers at the Imperial Conference were united in favour of war rather than diplomacy. Baron Yoshimichi Hara, President of the Imperial Council and the Emperor's representative, then questioned them closely, producing replies to the effect that war would only be considered as a last resort from some, and silence from others.

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At this point, the sovereign astonished all present by addressing the conference personally, and in breaking the tradition of Imperial silence left his advisors "struck with awe". (Prime Minister Konoe's description of the event.) Emperor Hirohito stressed the need for peaceful resolution of international problems, expressed regret at his ministers' failure to respond to Baron Hara's probings, and recited a poem written by his grandfather, the Emperor Meiji which, he said, he had read "over and over again":

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: Methinks all the people of the world are brethren, then.

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: Why are the waves and the wind so unsettled nowadays?

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Recovering from their shock, the ministers hastened to express their profound wish to explore all possible peaceful avenues. The war preparations continued without the slightest change, however, and within weeks Cabinet would replace the insufficiently belligerent Konoe with the hard line General Hideki Tojo, chosen by Hirohito. On December 8 (December 7 in Hawaii) 1941, in simultaneous attacks, Japanese forces struck at the US Fleet in Pearl Harbor and began the invasion of South-East Asia. From here, there was no turning back.

Related Topics:
Hideki Tojo - December 8 - December 7 - Pearl Harbor - Invasion of South-East Asia

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Whatever his actual involvement leading up to hostilities, with the nation now fully committed to the war, Emperor Hirohito took a keen interest in military progress and did all he could to boost morale. To begin with, the news was all good. As the tide of war gradually began to turn (around late 1942 and early 1943), some people argue that the flow of information to the palace gradually began to bear less and less relation to reality, while others suggest that the emperor worked closely with Prime Minister Tojo, continued to be well and accurately briefed by the military, and knew Japan's military position precisely right up to the point of surrender. In the first six months of war, all the major engagements had been victories. Throughout the following years, the sequence of drawn, and then decisively lost engagements were also reported to the public as great victories. Only gradually did it become apparent to the people in the home islands that the situation was very grim. U.S. air raids on the cities of Japan starting in 1944 made a mockery of the unending tales of victory.

Related Topics:
1942 - 1943

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