MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01271_84.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.9 KB | 214 lines

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Hirohito was born
into the oldest
royal dynasty
in the world. He
not only possessed
absolute authority
as the nation's
spiritual leader,
but was himself
seen as divine. His
status and his
country's fortunes
were to change
dramatically in
the course of
his reign
#
Despite outward
conformity with
the traditional
trappings of the
Empire, Hirohito
went against
palace protocol
when he insisted
on choosing his
own wife, who
was, moreover,
from outside the
Imperial family. He
married Princess
Nagako, daughter
of an aristocratic
general, in 1924
#
In 1921 Hirohito,
then Crown Prince,
took a step which
was unprecedented
in 2000 years of
royal history: he
left the shores of
Japan and made a
tour of state. He
received a warm
welcome in Great
Britain, where
George V made
him a general
#
In 1926 Hirohito
became emperor
on the death of his
father, Yoshihito.
In the early years
of his reign, there
were further steps
towards democracy
and multi-party
government, but
Japan was entering
a highly aggressive
phase, and by the
Thirties the govern-
ment of Japan had
assumed a quasi-
Fascist character
#
As Emperor,
Hirohito stood at
the head of a vast
military machine
which flexed its
muscles in war
against China. The
"China incident", as
the war was called
in Japan, reached a
peak of ferocity in
a hard-fought and
vicious battle for
Shanghai in 1937
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Despite being
Japan's supreme
ruler, the scholarly
and introspective
Hirohito left much
of the government's
policy and executive
decision-making to
his cabinet and
generals. He was
content to let the
generals pursue
the expansionist
dream in his name
#

#
The surprise attack
on the US naval
base at Pearl Harbor
- "a day that  will
live in infamy,"
President Roosevelt
called it - caught
the American fleet
off guard. Japan's
war machine quickly
took  possession
of the Philippines,
Malaya, Singapore,
Burma and Indonesia
#
Hirohito appointed Tojo prime minister the year before the Pearl Harbor attack.
Though seen as a Japanese Hitler, he was not a leader of any mass movement,
and he had no grand ideology apart from the traditional military code
#
Yamamoto, one of the great naval commanders, staked everything on the
Pearl Harbor attack, believing Japan's only hope of winning a war with America
was through a devastating pre-emptive strike
#
To end the heavy
losses which were
being incurred as
American forces
reconquered Pacific
islands one by one,
President Truman
authorised the use
of atomic bombs
against Japanese
cities. The first
device was dropped
on Hiroshima on
August 6 1945, the
second on Nagasaki
three days later
#
The effect of the
atomic destruction
of two cities was
swift. Hirohito
ordered his cabinet
to give up the
fight, and finally
they acquiesced.
Hirohito announced
to the people that
the war was lost,
but shame and the
arcane language of
tradition meant
the announcement
was couched in
such vague terms
that many people
did not even grasp
what Hirohito had
said to them
@
After the war there were calls for Hirohito to be tried as a war criminal, as
the Nazi leaders had been at Nuremburg. But MacArthur resisted, judging that
the continuity of the Imperial institution could be made to work for the Allies;
Hirohito was happy to comply
#
General MacArthur
was proved right
in his decision to
preserve Japan's
monarchy. With
Emperor Hirohito
as its constitu-
tional monarch,
Japan was able
to remake itself
as a democracy,
and went on to
argue forcefully
for world peace
#
Hirohito's natural
inclination to take
a back seat in the
affairs of state
now accorded with
his official role.
He was rarely in
the public eye, but
when he was he cut
a thoughtful and
diplomatic figure
#
By the time of his
death Hirohito had
ruled for 62 years,
42 of which had
seen almost unint-
errupted  economic
growth. Postwar
Japan became one
of the strongest
economies in the
world, and had
changed in ways
no-one, least of
all Hirohito, could
have foreseen
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