View source for Hirohito

{{short description|Emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989}}
{{about|the emperor of Japan}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = {{plainlist|
* Emperor Shōwa
* {{nobold|{{lang|ja|昭和天皇}}}}
}}
| succession   = [[Emperor of Japan]]
| image        = Hirohito in dress uniform (cropped).jpg
| alt          = A 34 year-old Hirohito in military uniform
| caption      = Formal portrait, 1935
| reign        = 25 December 1926 – {{nowrap|7 January 1989}}
| coronation   = 10 November 1928
| cor-type     = Japan
| predecessor  = [[Emperor Taishō|Taishō]]
| successor    = [[Akihito]]
| posthumous name = ''[[Tsuigō]]'':<br>Emperor Shōwa ({{lang|ja|昭和天皇}})
| succession1  = [[Sesshō and Kampaku|''Sesshō'' of Japan]]
| reign1       = 25 November 1921 – {{nowrap|25 December 1926}}
| reign-type1  = Regency
| predecessor1 = Taishō
| pre-type1    = Monarch
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Princess Nagako Kuni]]|1924}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Shigeko Higashikuni]]
* [[Sachiko, Princess Hisa]]
* [[Kazuko Takatsukasa]]
* [[Atsuko Ikeda]]
* [[Akihito, Emperor of Japan]]
* [[Masahito, Prince Hitachi]]
* [[Takako Shimazu]]}}
| era name     = [[Shōwa era|Shōwa]]
| era dates    = <br>25 December 1926 – 7 January 1989
| royal house  = [[Imperial House of Japan]]
| father       = [[Emperor Taishō]]
| mother       = [[Sadako Kujō]]
| religion     = [[Shinto]]
| birth_name   = Hirohito, Prince Michi<br>({{lang|ja|迪宮裕仁親王}})
| birth_date   = {{birth date|df=yes|1901|04|29}}
| birth_place  = [[Takanawa Residence|Takanawa Imperial Residence]], Tokyo, Japan
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=yes|1989|01|7|1901|04|29}}
| death_place  = [[Fukiage Palace]], Tokyo, Japan
| burial_date  = 24 February 1989
| burial_place = [[Musashi Imperial Graveyard]]
| signature    = [[File:Showa shomei.svg|class=skin-invert|35px]]
| module       = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.ogg|title=Hirohito's voice|type=speech|description=Hirohito announcing the [[surrender of Japan]] to Allied forces<br>Recorded 14 August 1945}}
}}
{{nihongo|'''Hirohito'''|裕仁||29 April 1901{{Snd}}7 January 1989}}, posthumously honored as {{nihongo|'''Emperor Shōwa'''|昭和天皇|Shōwa Tennō}},{{efn|{{IPA|ja|ɕoː.wa (ten.noꜜː), ɕoꜜː.wa (ten.noː)}}<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|lang=ja}}</ref>}} was the 124th [[emperor of Japan]] according to the [[List of emperors of Japan|traditional order of succession]], reigning from 1926 until [[Death and state funeral of Hirohito|his death]] in 1989. He remains the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and one of the [[List of longest-reigning monarchs|longest-reigning monarchs in the world]]. As emperor during the [[Shōwa era]], Hirohito presided over the rise of [[Japanese militarism]], the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the [[Asia-Pacific War]], and the nation's [[Japanese economic miracle|postwar economic miracle]].

Hirohito was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, [[Emperor Meiji]], as the first child of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako (later [[Emperor Taishō]] and [[Empress Teimei]]). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Hirohito's father ascended the [[Chrysanthemum Throne]], and Hirohito was proclaimed [[Crown prince#Monarchies that use the title of crown prince|Crown Prince of Japan]] in 1916, making him the [[heir apparent]]. In 1921, he made an official visit to six European countries, marking the first time a Japanese crown prince had traveled abroad. Due to his father's ill health, Hirohito became [[Sesshō and Kampaku|''Sesshō'' of Japan]] (regent) that same year. In 1924, he married [[Princess Nagako Kuni]], with whom he later had seven children: [[Shigeko Higashikuni|Shigeko]], [[Sachiko, Princess Hisa|Sachiko]], [[Kazuko Takatsukasa|Kazuko]], [[Atsuko Ikeda|Atsuko]], [[Akihito]], [[Masahito, Prince Hitachi|Masahito]] and [[Takako Shimazu|Takako]]. He became emperor upon his father's death in 1926.

As Japan's [[head of state]], Emperor Hirohito oversaw the rise of militarism in Japanese politics. In 1931, he raised no objection when Japan's [[Kwantung Army]] staged the [[Mukden incident]] as a pretext for the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Manchuria]]. Following the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, tensions steadily grew between Japan and the [[United States]]. After Hirohito formally sanctioned his government's decision to go to war against the U.S. and its allies on 1 December 1941, Japan entered [[World War II]] upon its military's [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] as well as attacks on other U.S. and [[British colonies]] in the region. After the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] and the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|Soviet invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria]], Hirohito called upon the [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces]] (IJAF) to surrender in [[Hirohito surrender broadcast|a radio broadcast]] on 15 August 1945. The extent of his involvement in military decision-making and his wartime culpability remains a subject of historical debate.

Following [[Japan's surrender]], Emperor Hirohito was never prosecuted for [[Japanese war crimes|war crimes]] at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] (IMTFE), even though the war had been waged in his name. After the surrender, Japan came [[Occupation of Japan|under Allied occupation]], administered primarily by the United States. The [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]], U.S. General [[Douglas MacArthur]], believed that a cooperative emperor would facilitate a peaceful occupation and support U.S. postwar objectives. MacArthur therefore excluded any evidence from the tribunal that could have incriminated Hirohito or other members of the [[Imperial House of Japan]]. In 1946, Hirohito was pressured by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] to [[Humanity Declaration|renounce his divinity]]. Under [[Constitution of Japan|Japan's new constitution]], drafted by U.S. officials and enacted in 1947, his role as emperor was redefined as "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People". Upon his death in January 1989, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Akihito, beginning the [[Heisei era]].

==Early life and education==
[[File:Michi-no-miya Hirohito 1902.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Hirohito as an infant in 1902]]
Hirohito was born on 29 April 1901 at [[Takanawa Residence|Tōgū Palace]] in [[Aoyama, Tokyo]] during the reign of his grandfather, [[Emperor Meiji]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hirohito_emperor.shtml |title=Historic Figures: Emperor Hirohito (1901–1989) |website=BBC History}}</ref> the first son of 21-year-old Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future [[Emperor Taishō]]) and 16-year-old Crown Princess Sadako, the future [[Empress Teimei]].{{sfn|Ponsonby-Fane|1959|p=337}} He was the grandson of Emperor Meiji and [[Yanagiwara Naruko]]. His childhood title was Prince Michi.

Ten weeks after he was born, Hirohito was removed from the court and placed in the care of Count [[Kawamura Sumiyoshi]], who raised him as his grandchild. At the age of 3, Hirohito and his brother [[Yasuhito]] were returned to court when Kawamura died&nbsp;– first to the imperial mansion in [[Numazu]], [[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]], then back to the Aoyama Palace.{{sfn|Bix|2001|pp=[https://archive.org/details/hirohitomakingof00herb/page/22 22–23]}}

In 1908, he began elementary studies at the [[Gakushūin]] (Peers School).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito |url=https://pearlharbor.org/the-long-and-eventful-reign-of-hirohito/ |website=Pearl Harbor |access-date=12 November 2021 |date=13 March 2018}}</ref> Emperor Mutsuhito then appointed General [[Nogi Maresuke]] to be the Gakushūin's tenth president as well as in charge of educating his grandson.{{sfn|Bix|2016|pp=36–37}} After Nogi's death, his education was led by Fleet Admiral Togo Heihachiro and Naval Captain Ogasawara Naganari, who would later become his major opponents with regards to his national defense policy.{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=43}}

[[File:Emperor Taisho's sons 1921.jpg|thumb|[[Emperor Taishō]]'s four sons in 1921: Hirohito, [[Takahito, Prince Mikasa|Takahito]], [[Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu|Nobuhito]], and [[Yasuhito]]]]
During 1912, at the age of 11, Hirohito was commissioned into the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] as a Second Lieutenant and in the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] as an Ensign. He was also bestowed with the Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]].<ref>{{cite web |last=PacificWrecks.com |title=Pacific Wrecks - Emperor Hirohito 裕仁 (Shōwa) |url=https://pacificwrecks.com/people/leaders/hirohito/ |access-date=27 November 2022 |website=pacificwrecks.com}}</ref> When his grandfather, [[Emperor Meiji]] died on 30 July 1912, [[Yoshihito]] assumed the throne and his eldest son, Hirohito became [[heir apparent]].

Shiratori Kurakichi, one of his middle-school instructors, was one of the personalities who deeply influenced the life of Hirohito. Kurakichi was a trained historian from [[German Empire|Germany]], imbibing the positivist historiographic trend by [[Leopold von Ranke]]. He was the one who inculcated in the mind of the young Hirohito that there is a connection between the divine origin of the imperial line and the aspiration of linking it to the myth of the racial superiority and homogeneity of the Japanese. The emperors were often a driving force in the modernization of their country. He taught Hirohito that the [[Empire of Japan]] was created and governed through diplomatic actions (taking into accounts the interests of other nations benevolently and justly).{{sfn|Bix|2016|pp=70–74}}

==Crown Prince==
On 2 November 1916, Hirohito was formally proclaimed crown prince and [[heir apparent]]. An [[investiture]] ceremony was not required to confirm this status.<ref>{{harvnb|Ponsonby-Fane|1959|p=338}}; ''see'' [[:File:Crowd awaiting Crown Prince Tokyo Dec1916.jpg]], ''[[The New York Times]]''. 3 December 1916.</ref>

===Overseas travel===
[[File:Crown Prince Hirohito and Lloyd George 1921.jpg|thumb|Prince Hirohito and British prime minister [[David Lloyd George]], 1921]]
From 3 March to 3 September 1921 (Taisho 10), the Crown Prince made official visits to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], [[French Third Republic|France]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], [[Vatican City]] and [[Malta]] (then a protectorate of the British Empire). This was the first visit to Europe by the Crown Prince.{{efn|The first foreign trip by the Crown Prince was made in 1907 by the Crown Prince Yoshihito to the then Korean Empire. During that time, while it was considered a foreign country, it had become a colonial protectorate of Japan and would eventually be annexed.}} Despite strong opposition in Japan, this was realized by the efforts of elder Japanese statesmen ([[Genrō]]) such as [[Yamagata Aritomo]] and [[Saionji Kinmochi]].

The departure of Prince Hirohito was widely reported in newspapers. The [[Japanese battleship Katori|Japanese battleship ''Katori'']] was used, and departed from [[Yokohama]], sailed to [[Naha]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Singapore]], [[Colombo]], [[Suez]], [[Cairo]], and [[Gibraltar]]. In April, Hirohito was present in Malta for the opening of the Maltese Parliament.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.mt/en/Government/DOI/Press%20Releases/Pages/2020/July/24/pr201420.aspx |title=PRESS RELEASE BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER Speaker Farrugia receives the new Japanese ambassador |author=Malta Government Services and Information |date=24 July 2020 |website=doi.gov.mt |publisher=Office of the Speaker (Malta) |access-date=25 February 2024 |quote=These were further enhanced by high-level visits, including the visit to Tokyo by President of Malta George Vella who attended the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito last October. He noted that the then Crown Prince of Japan Hirohito visited Malta in April 1921 as part of his first European tour and was present for the opening of the new Maltese Parliament.}}</ref> After sailing for two months, the Katori arrived in [[Portsmouth]] on 9 May, on the same day reaching the British capital, [[London]]. Hirohito was welcomed in the UK as a partner of the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] and met with [[King George V]] and Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]].

[[File:Crown_Prince_Hirohito_in_Oxford_1921.jpg|thumb|left|Hirohito watches a boat race at [[Oxford University]] in 1921]]
That evening, a banquet was held at [[Buckingham Palace]], where Hirohito met with George V and [[Prince Arthur of Connaught]]. George V said that he treated his father like Hirohito,{{clarification needed|date=February 2024}} who was nervous in an unfamiliar foreign country, and that relieved his tension. The next day, he met [[Edward VIII|Prince Edward]] (the future Edward VIII) at [[Windsor Castle]], and a banquet was held every day thereafter. In London, he toured the [[British Museum]], the [[Tower of London]], the [[Bank of England]], [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's Marine Insurance]], [[Oxford University]], Army University, and the [[Royal Naval War College|Naval War College]]. He also enjoyed theater at the [[New Oxford Theatre]] and the Delhi Theatre.<ref>小田部雄次 『天皇・皇室を知る事典』211頁（東京堂出版・2007年）</ref>

At the [[University of Cambridge]], he listened to Professor [[Joseph Robson Tanner]]'s lecture on "Relationship between the British Royal Family and its People", and was awarded an [[honorary doctorate]] degree.<ref name="100-20-445">{{cite book |author=Tooru Hayano |script-title=ja:L100人の20世紀 |date=September 2001 |publisher=Asahi Shimbun |series=朝日文庫 |isbn=4022613513 |volume=下 |page=445 |script-chapter=ja:昭和天皇 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tipton |first=Elise K. |chapter=Royal symbolism: Crown Prince Hirohito's tour to Europe in 1921 |url=https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/9781526109392/9781526109392.00016.xml |title=Royals on Tour: Politics, pageantry and colonialism |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-5261-0939-2 |editor-last=Aldrich |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert Aldrich (historian) |page=201 |doi=10.7765/9781526109392.00016 |s2cid=198656306 |editor-last2=McCreery |editor-first2=Cindy}}</ref> He visited [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, from 19 to 20 May, and was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. He stayed at the residence of [[John Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl]], for three days. On his stay with Stuart-Murray, the prince was quoted as saying, "The rise of [[Bolsheviks]] won't happen if you live a simple life like Duke Athol."<ref name="100-20-445" />

In Italy, he met with King [[Vittorio Emanuele III]] and others, attended official international banquets, and visited places such as the fierce battlefields of [[World War I]].

===Regency===
After returning to Japan, Hirohito became [[Regent]] of Japan ([[Sesshō and Kampaku|''Sesshō'']]) on 25 November 1921, in place of his ailing father, who was affected by mental illness.{{sfn|Bix|2001|p=123}}<ref>"Hirohito Is Named Regent of Japan", ''The New York Times'', 26 November 1921, p. 4</ref>  In 1923 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army and Commander in the navy, and army Colonel and Navy Captain in 1925.

====Visit to colonial Taiwan====
Over 12 days in April 1923, Hirohito visited Taiwan, which had been a [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese colony]] since 1895.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tjnp.gov.tw/Eng/News_Content.aspx?n=5624&sms=10345&s=266408 |title="Travelling in Tainan with Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito" Learn about the culture and history of Taijiang and take a salt industry tour |date=7 October 2022}}</ref> This was a voyage his father, the then Crown Prince [[Yoshihito]] had planned in 1911 but never completed.<ref name="takaoclub_hirohito">{{cite web |url=https://www.takaoclub.com/hirohito/hirohito.htm |title=The Takao Club: Crown Prince Hirohito's 1923 Visit to Takao}}</ref>

It was widely reported in Taiwanese newspapers that famous high-end restaurants served typical Chinese luxury dishes for the Prince, such as swallow's nest and shark fin, as Taiwanese cuisine. This was the first time an Emperor or a Crown Prince had ever eaten the local cuisine of a colony, or had foreign dishes other than Western cuisine abroad, thus exceptional preparations were required: The eight chefs and other cooking staff were purified for a week (through fasting and ritual bathing) before the cooking of the feast could begin. This tasting of "Taiwanese cuisine" of the Prince Regent {{Attribution needed|date=January 2025|reason=normative opinion|text=should be understood}} as part of an integration ceremony of incorporating the colony into the empire, which can be seen as the context and purpose of Hirohito's Taiwanese visit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iwama |first=Kazuhiro |date=20 January 2021 |title=How Taiwanese, Korean and Manchurian Cuisines Were Designed: A Comparative Study on Colonial Cuisines of the Japanese Empire |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/almadaniyya/1/0/1_1/_pdf/-char/en |journal=Al-Madaniyya |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.50881/almadaniyya.1.0_1 |issn=2436-0678 |access-date=24 April 2024 |via=J-stage}}</ref>

[[File:1923年騎兵於臺灣總督府前迎接日本皇太子裕仁_Cavalry_welcome_then_Japanese_Crown_Prince_Hirohito_visited_Taipei,_TAIWAN.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Cavalry welcome Prince Hirohito in Taipei, in front of the Office of the Governor-General]]
Having visited several sites outside of Taipei, Hirohito returned to the capital on the 24th and on 25 April, just one day before his departure, he visited the Beitou hotspring district of Taipei and its oldest facility. The original structure had been built in 1913 in the style of a traditional Japanese bathhouse. However, in anticipation of Hirohito's visit an additional residential wing was added to the earlier building, this time in the style of an Edwardian country house. The new building was subsequently opened to the public and was deemed the largest public bathhouse in the Japanese Empire.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://youtube.com/shorts/xmld_Jw6XoY?si=HskD6o7_NWoGEFJM |title=Fine (Japanese) Meiji Era Brick&Wood Architecture in Taipei's Hot-spring Valley |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref name="takaoclub_hirohito"/>
Crown Prince Hirohito was a student of science, and he had heard that Beitou Creek was one of only two hot springs in the world that contained a rare radioactive mineral. So, he decided to walk into the creek to investigate.

Naturally, concerned for a royal family member's safety, his entourage scurried around, seeking flat rocks to use as stepping stones. After that, these stones were carefully mounted and given the official name: “His Imperial Highness Crown Prince of Japan's Stepping Stones for River Crossing,” with a stele alongside to tell the story.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chung |first=Wen-Ping |date=16 March 2018 |title=Long Nice Hot Spring and Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito |url=https://www.travel.taipei/en/pictorial/article/14084 |access-date=21 May 2024 |website=Undiscovered Taipei}}</ref>

Crown Prince Hirohito handed his Imperial Notice to Governor-General [[Den Kenjiro]] and departed from [[Keelung]] on 26 April 1923.<ref name="takaoclub_hirohito"/>

====Earthquake and assassination attempt====
{{Further|Assassination attempts on Hirohito}}
[[File:Emperor Hirohito and empress Kojun of japan.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|Prince Hirohito and his wife, Princess Nagako, in 1924]]
The [[Great Kantō earthquake]] devastated Tokyo on 1 September 1923, killing some 100,000 people and leveling vast areas. The city could be rebuilt drawing on the then massive timber reserves of Taiwan. In the aftermath of the tragic disaster, the military authorities saw an opportunity to annihilate the communist movement in Japan. During the [[Kantō Massacre]] an estimated 6000 people, mainly ethnic Koreans, were annihilated. The backlash culminated in an assassination attempt by [[Daisuke Nanba]] on the Prince Regent on 27 December 1923 in the so-called [[Toranomon incident]], but the attempt failed.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 March 2018 |title=The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito |url=https://pearlharbor.org/the-long-and-eventful-reign-of-hirohito/ |access-date=24 November 2022 |website=Pearl Harbor}}</ref><ref name="takaoclub_hirohito"/> During interrogation, the failed assassin claimed to be a [[Japanese Communist Party|communist]] and was executed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hernon |first=Matthew |date=15 May 2021 |title=TW's List of 7: Notorious Assassination Plots in Japan |url=https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2021/05/assassination-plots-japan/ |access-date=24 November 2022 |website=Tokyo Weekender}}{{better source needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

==Marriage==
Prince Hirohito married his distant cousin [[Princess Nagako Kuni]], the eldest daughter of [[Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni]], on 26 January 1924. They had two sons and five daughters<ref name="survivors"/> (see [[#Issue|Issue]]).

The daughters who lived to adulthood left the imperial family as a result of the American reforms of the Japanese imperial household in October 1947 (in the case of Princess Shigeko) or under the terms of the [[Imperial Household Law]] at the moment of their subsequent marriages (in the cases of Princesses Kazuko, Atsuko, and Takako).

==Early reign and World War II==
{{Shōwa Statism}}

=== Accession ===
[[File:Ceremony of the Enthronement of Emperor Shōwa in Shishinden Hall 5.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ceremony of the Enthronement of Emperor Shōwa in Shishinden Hall]]
On 25 December 1926, Yoshihito died and Hirohito became emperor. The Crown Prince was said to have received the succession (''senso'').<ref name="varley44">Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). ''[[Jinnō Shōtōki]] ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley)'', p. 44. [A distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to [[Emperor Tenji]]; and all sovereigns except [[Empress Jitō|Jitō]], [[Yōzei]], [[Go-Toba]], and [[Emperor Fushimi|Fushimi]] have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of [[Go-Murakami]];] {{harvnb|Ponsonby-Fane|1959|p=350}}</ref> The [[Taishō era]]'s end and the [[Shōwa era]]'s beginning were proclaimed. The deceased Emperor was posthumously renamed [[Emperor Taishō]] within days. Following Japanese custom, the new Emperor was [[naming taboo|never referred]] to by his given name but rather was referred to simply as "His Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to "His Majesty." In writing, the Emperor was also referred to formally as "The Reigning Emperor."

[[File:Emperor Showa.jpg|thumb|upright|Emperor Hirohito after his enthronement ceremony in 1928, dressed in [[sokutai]]]]
In November 1928, Hirohito's accession was confirmed in [[Enthronement of the Japanese emperor|ceremonies]] (''sokui'')<ref name="varley44"/> which are conventionally identified as "enthronement" and "coronation" (''Shōwa no tairei-shiki''); but this formal event would have been more accurately described as a public confirmation that he possessed the Japanese [[Imperial Regalia of Japan|Imperial Regalia]],{{sfn|Ponsonby-Fane|1959|p=349}} also called the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan|Three Sacred Treasures]], which have been handed down through the centuries.{{sfn|Ponsonby-Fane|1959|pp=136–137}} However, his enthronement events were planned and staged under the economic conditions of a recession whereas the 55th Imperial Diet unanimously passed $7,360,000 for the festivities.{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=186}}

=== Early reign ===
The first part of Hirohito's reign took place against a background of [[Shōwa financial crisis|financial crisis]] and increasing military power within the government through both legal and extralegal means. The [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] held [[veto]] power over the formation of cabinets since 1900. Between 1921 and 1944, there were 64 separate incidents of political violence.

Hirohito narrowly escaped assassination by a hand [[grenade]] thrown by a [[Korean independence movement|Korean independence]] activist, [[Lee Bong-chang]], in Tokyo on 9 January 1932, in the [[Sakuradamon incident (1932)|Sakuradamon Incident]].

Another notable case was the assassination of moderate [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]] in 1932, marking the end of [[Civil control of the military|civilian control of the military]]. The [[February 26 incident]], an attempted [[coup d'état]], followed in February 1936. It was carried out by junior Army officers of the ''[[Imperial Way Faction|Kōdōha]]'' faction who had the sympathy of many high-ranking officers including [[Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu]], one of Hirohito's brothers. This revolt was occasioned by a loss of political support by the militarist faction in [[Diet of Japan|Diet]] elections. The coup resulted in the murders of several high government and Army officials.

When Chief [[Aide-de-camp to the Emperor of Japan|Aide-de-camp]] [[Shigeru Honjō]] informed him of the revolt, Hirohito immediately ordered that it be put down and referred to the officers as "rebels" (''bōto''). Shortly thereafter, he ordered [[Ministry of War of Japan|Army Minister]] [[Yoshiyuki Kawashima]] to suppress the rebellion within the hour. He asked for reports from Honjō every 30 minutes. The next day, when told by Honjō that the high command had made little progress in quashing the rebels, the Emperor told him "I Myself, will lead the [[Imperial Guard (Japan)|Konoe Division]] and subdue them." The rebellion was suppressed following his orders on [[February 26 incident#Events of February 29, 1936|29 February]].<ref>Mikiso Hane, ''Emperor Hirohito and His Chief Aide-de-camp, The Honjō Diary'', 1983; ''Honjō Nikki'', Hara Shobō, 1975.</ref>

=== Second Sino-Japanese War ===
{{further | Second Sino-Japanese War}}
Beginning from the [[Mukden Incident]] in 1931 in which Japan staged a [[False flag|false flag operation]] and made a false accusation against Chinese dissidents as a pretext to invade Manchuria, Japan occupied Chinese territories and established [[Puppet state|puppet governments]]. Such aggression was recommended to Hirohito by his chiefs of staff and prime minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]]; Hirohito did not voice objection to the invasion of China.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991}}{{page needed|date=October 2023}}<ref>{{cite web |date=14 August 2000 |title=Detail All of Hirohito's Role |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-14-me-4022-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Rich|2018}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pearlharbor.org/blog/the-long-and-eventful-reign-of-hirohito/#:~:text=Already%2Dtense%20relations%20between%20Japan,supported%20and%20encouraged%20by%20Hirohito.|title=The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito |last= |first= |date=13 March 2018 |website=pearlharbor.org |publisher= |access-date=11 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref>

A diary by chamberlain Kuraji Ogura says that he was reluctant to start war against China in 1937 because they had underestimated China's military strength and Japan should be cautious in its strategy. In this regard, Ogura writes that Hirohito stated "once you start (a war), it cannot easily be stopped in the middle ... What's important is when to end the war" and "one should be cautious in starting a war, but once begun, it should be carried out thoroughly."<ref>{{cite news |title=Diary shows Hirohito didn't want war in China: media |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-hirohito-idUST22065220070309 |quote=Emperor Hirohito, in whose name Japanese soldiers fought in World War Two, was reluctant to start a war with China in 1937 and had believed in stopping it earlier, media reported on Friday, citing a diary by his former chamberlain. |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=9 March 2007 |access-date=29 April 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Hirohito Sirayuki.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The Emperor on his favorite white horse, Shirayuki ({{literal|white-snow}}), in 1935]]
Nonetheless, according to Herbert Bix, Hirohito's main concern seems to have been the possibility of an attack by the Soviet Union given his questions to his chief of staff, [[Prince Kan'in Kotohito]], and army minister, [[Hajime Sugiyama]], about the time it could take to crush Chinese resistance and how could they prepare for the eventuality of a Soviet incursion. Based on Bix's findings, Hirohito was displeased by Prince Kan'in's evasive responses about the substance of such contingency plans but nevertheless still approved the decision to move troops to [[North China]].{{Sfn|Bix|2016|p=319}}

According to [[Akira Fujiwara]], Hirohito endorsed the policy of qualifying the invasion of China as an "incident" instead of a "war"; therefore, he did not issue any notice to observe international law in this conflict (unlike what his predecessors did in previous conflicts officially recognized by Japan as wars), and the Deputy Minister of the Japanese Army instructed the chief of staff of [[Japanese China Garrison Army]] on 5 August not to use the term "prisoners of war" for Chinese captives. This instruction led to the removal of the constraints of international law on the treatment of Chinese prisoners.<ref>Fujiwara, ''Nitchū Sensō ni Okeru Horyo Gyakusatsu'', Kikan Sensō Sekinin Kenkyū 9, 1995, pp. 20–21</ref> The works of [[Yoshiaki Yoshimi]] and Seiya Matsuno show that Hirohito also authorized, by specific orders (''rinsanmei''), the use of chemical weapons against the Chinese.<ref>''Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryō II, Kaisetsu'', 1997, pp. 25–29</ref>

Later in his life, Hirohito looked back on his decision to give the go-ahead to wage a 'defensive' war against China and opined that his foremost priority was not to wage war with China but to prepare for a war with the Soviet Union, as his army had reassured him that the China war would end within three months, but that decision of his had haunted him since he forgot that the Japanese forces in China were drastically fewer than that of the Chinese, hence the shortsightedness of his perspective was evident.{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=320}}

On 1 December 1937, Hirohito had given formal instruction to General [[Iwane Matsui]] to capture and occupy the enemy capital of Nanking. He was very eager to fight this battle since he and his council firmly believed that all it would take is a one huge blow to bring forth the surrender of Chiang Kai-shek.{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=339}} He even gave an Imperial Rescript to Iwane when he returned to Tokyo a year later, despite the brutality that his officers had inflicted on the Chinese populace in Nanking; thus Hirohito had seemingly turned a blind eye to and condoned these monstrosities.

During the [[Battle of Wuhan|invasion of Wuhan]], from August to October 1938, Hirohito authorized the use of chemical weapons on 375 separate occasions,<ref>''Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryō II, Kaisetsu'', 1997, p. 28.</ref> despite the resolution adopted by the [[League of Nations]] on 14 May condemning Japanese use of chemical weapons.

=== Pacific War ===
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2019}}
[[File:Pacific Area - The Imperial Powers 1939 - Map.jpg|thumb|Political-military map of the Asia-Pacific region in 1939]]

==== Preparations ====
In July 1939, Hirohito quarrelled with his brother, [[Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu|Prince Chichibu]], over whether to support the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]], and reprimanded the army minister, [[Seishirō Itagaki]].{{sfnm|Hidenari|1991|1pp=106–108|Wetzler|1998|2pp=25, 231}} But after the success of the [[Wehrmacht]] in Europe, Hirohito consented to the alliance. On 27 September 1940, ostensibly under Hirohito's leadership, Japan became a contracting partner of the [[Tripartite Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] forming the [[Axis powers]].

The objectives to be obtained were clearly defined: a free hand to continue with the conquest of China and Southeast Asia, no increase in U.S. or British military forces in the region, and cooperation by the West "in the acquisition of goods needed by our Empire."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Japan's decision for war : records of the 1941 policy conferences |year=1967 |publisher=Stanford University Press |author=Nobutaka Ike |isbn=0-8047-0305-1}}</ref>

On 5 September, Prime Minister Konoe informally submitted a draft of the decision to Hirohito, just one day in advance of the Imperial Conference at which it would be formally implemented. On this evening, Hirohito had a meeting with the chief of staff of the army, Sugiyama, chief of staff of the navy, [[Osami Nagano]], and Prime Minister Konoe. Hirohito questioned Sugiyama about the chances of success of an open war with [[Western world|the Occident]]. As Sugiyama answered positively, Hirohito scolded him:

{{blockquote
|—At the time of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|China Incident]], the army told me that we could achieve peace immediately after dealing them one blow with three divisions ... but you can't still beat Chiang Kai-shek even today! Sugiyama, you were army minister at that time.<br />—China is a vast area with many ways in and ways out, and we met unexpectedly big difficulties ...<br />—You say the interior of China is huge; isn't the Pacific Ocean even bigger than China? ... Didn't I caution you each time about those matters? Sugiyama, are you lying to me?{{sfn|Bix|2001|pp=411, 745}}}}

Chief of Naval General Staff Admiral 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."<ref>Prange, G. W., Dillon, K. V., Goldstein, D. M. (1991). At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor; Revised Edition. United Kingdom: Penguin Publishing Group.</ref><ref>Pike, F. (2016). Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941–1945. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.</ref>

[[File:Emperor Shōwa Army 1938-1-8.jpg|thumb|Emperor Hirohito riding Shirayuki during an Army inspection on 8 January 1938]]
Nevertheless, all speakers at the Imperial Conference were united in favor of war rather than diplomacy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter III: Politico-Military Evolution Toward War |url=https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/ch3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226081745/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/ch3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 December 2007 |access-date=25 November 2022 |website=history.army.mil}}</ref> Baron [[Yoshimichi Hara]], President of the Imperial Council and Hirohito's representative, then questioned them closely, producing replies to the effect that war would be considered only as a last resort from some, and silence from others.

On 8 October, Sugiyama signed a 47-page report to the Emperor (sōjōan) outlining in minute detail plans for the advance into Southeast Asia. During the third week of October, Sugiyama gave Hirohito a 51-page document, "Materials in Reply to the Throne," about the operational outlook for the war.{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|pp=52–54}}

As war preparations continued, Prime Minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]] found himself increasingly isolated, and he resigned on 16 October. He justified himself to his chief cabinet secretary, Kenji Tomita, by stating:

{{blockquote|Of course His Majesty is a pacifist, and there is no doubt he wished to avoid war. When I told him that to initiate war was a mistake, he agreed. But the next day, he would tell me: "You were worried about it yesterday, but you do not have to worry so much." Thus, gradually, he began to lean toward war. And the next time I met him, he leaned even more toward. In short, I felt the Emperor was telling me: my prime minister does not understand military matters, I know much more. In short, the Emperor had absorbed the view of the army and navy high commands.<ref>Fujiwara, ''Shōwa tennō no jūgo-nen sensō'', 1991, p. 126, citing Kenji Tomita's diary.</ref>}}

The army and the navy recommended the appointment of [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]], one of Hirohito's uncles, as prime minister. According to the Shōwa "Monologue", written after the war, Hirohito then said that if the war were to begin while a member of the imperial house was prime minister, the imperial house would have to carry the responsibility and he was opposed to this.{{sfn|Hidenari|1991|p=118}} Instead, Hirohito chose the hard-line General [[Hideki Tojo|Hideki Tōjō]], who was known for his devotion to the imperial institution, and asked him to make a policy review of what had been sanctioned by the Imperial Conferences.

[[File:Imperial general headquaters meeting.jpg|thumb|The Emperor as head of the [[Imperial General Headquarters]] on 29 April 1943]]
On 2 November Tōjō, Sugiyama, and Nagano reported to Hirohito that the review of eleven points had been in vain. Emperor Hirohito gave his consent to the war and then asked: "Are you going to provide justification for the war?"{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=421}}{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|pp=47–50}} The decision for war against the United States was presented for approval to Hirohito by General Tōjō, Naval Minister Admiral [[Shigetarō Shimada]], and Japanese Foreign Minister [[Shigenori Tōgō]].<ref>''Day of Deceit'', Robert B. Stinnett, New York, 2000, p. 143.</ref>

On 3 November, Nagano explained in detail the plan of the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] to Hirohito.{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|pp=29, 35}} On 5 November Emperor Hirohito approved in imperial conference the operations plan for a war against the [[Western world]] and had many meetings with the military and Tōjō until the end of the month.{{sfn|Bix|2016|pp=424, 430-31}} He initially showed hesitance towards engaging in war, but eventually approved the decision to strike Pearl Harbor despite opposition from certain advisors.<ref name="nuclearmuseum_emperor-hirohito">{{cite web |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/emperor-hirohito/#:~:text=The%20emperor%27s%20office%20signed%20off,his%20ability%20to%20do%20so |title=Emperor Hirohito - Nuclear Museum}}</ref> In the period leading up to Pearl Harbor, he expanded his control over military matters and participated in the Conference of Military Councillors, which was considered unusual of him. Additionally, he sought additional information regarding the attack plans.<ref name="nuclearmuseum_emperor-hirohito"/> An aide reported that he openly showed joy upon learning of the success of the surprise attacks.<ref name="nuclearmuseum_emperor-hirohito"/>

On 25 November [[Henry L. Stimson]], United States Secretary of War, noted in his diary that he had discussed with U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] the severe likelihood that Japan was about to launch a surprise attack and that the question had been "how we should maneuver them [the Japanese] into the position of firing the first shot without allowing too much danger to ourselves."

On the following day, 26 November 1941, [[U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]] presented the Japanese ambassador with the [[Hull note]], which as one of its conditions demanded the complete withdrawal of all Japanese troops from [[French Indochina]] and China. Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo said to his cabinet, "This is an ultimatum." On 1 December an Imperial Conference sanctioned the "War against the United States, United Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands."<ref>{{cite book |title=December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor |year=2003 |first=William H. |last=Bartsch}} p. 187.</ref>

==== War: advance and retreat ====
On 8 December (7 December in Hawaii), 1941, Japanese forces launched the [[Pacific War]] with a series of surprise attacks. U.S. territories were targeted during the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], and the [[Japanese invasion of Batan Island|invasion of Batan Island]] and aerial [[attack on Clark Field]] in the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]]. [[British Empire in World War II|British Empire]] territories were attacked in the [[Battle of Hong Kong]] and the [[Malayan campaign|invasion of Malaya]].

With the nation fully committed to the war, Hirohito took a keen interest in military progress and sought to boost morale. According to Akira Yamada and Akira Fujiwara, Hirohito made major interventions in some military operations. For example, he pressed Sugiyama four times, on 13 and 21 January and 9 and 26 February, to increase troop strength and launch an attack on [[Bataan]]. On 9 February 19 March, and 29 May, Hirohito ordered the Army Chief of staff to examine the possibilities for an attack on [[Chongqing]] in China, which led to Operation Gogo.<ref>Yamada, pp. 180, 181, 185; Fujiwara, pp. 135–138.</ref>

While some authors, like journalists [[Peter Jennings]] and [[Todd Brewster]], say that throughout the war, Hirohito was "outraged" at Japanese war crimes and the political dysfunction of many societal institutions that proclaimed their loyalty to him, and sometimes spoke up against them,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Peter |title=The Century |last2=Brewster |first2=Todd |date=November 1998 |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |isbn=0-385-48327-9 |location=New York |page=252 |author-link=Peter Jennings |author-link2=Todd Brewster}}</ref> others, such as historians [[Herbert P. Bix]] and [[Mark Felton]], as well as the expert on China's international relations Michael Tai, point out that Hirohito personally sanctioned the "[[Three Alls policy]]" (Sankō Sakusen), a [[scorched earth]] strategy implemented in China from 1942 to 1945 and which was both directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of "more than 2.7 million" Chinese civilians.{{Sfn|Bix|2016|p=365}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Felton |first=Mark |editor-last1=Carmichael |editor-first1=Cathie |editor-last2=Maguire |editor-first2=Richard C. |title=The Routledge History of Genocide |chapter=The Perfect Storm: Japanese military brutality during World War Two |year=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0367867065 |page=114}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tai |first=Michael |title=China and Her Neighbours: Asian Diplomacy from Ancient History to the Present |year=2019 |publisher=Zed |isbn=978-1-786997-79-1 |page=28}}</ref>

As the tide of war began to turn against Japan (around late 1942 and early 1943), the flow of information to the palace gradually began to bear less and less relation to reality, while others suggest that Hirohito worked closely with Prime Minister [[Hideki 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. The chief of staff of the General Affairs section of the Prime Minister's office, Shuichi Inada, remarked to Tōjō's private secretary, Sadao Akamatsu:
{{blockquote|There has never been a cabinet in which the prime minister, and all the ministers, reported so often to the throne. In order to effect the essence of genuine direct imperial rule and to relieve the concerns of the Emperor, the ministers reported to the throne matters within the scope of their responsibilities as per the prime minister's directives&nbsp;... In times of intense activities, typed drafts were presented to the Emperor with corrections in red. First draft, second draft, final draft and so forth, came as deliberations progressed one after the other and were sanctioned accordingly by the Emperor.<ref>Akamatsu's diary, in {{harvnb|Wetzler|1998|p=50}}.</ref>}}

[[File:Showa-family1941 12 7.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Emperor Hirohito with his wife [[Empress Kōjun]] and their children on 7 December 1941]]
In the first six months of war, all the major engagements had been victories. Japanese advances were stopped in the summer of 1942 with the [[Battle of Midway]] and the landing of the American forces on [[Guadalcanal]] and [[Tulagi]] in August. Hirohito played an increasingly influential role in the war; in eleven major episodes he was deeply involved in supervising the actual conduct of war operations. Hirohito pressured the High Command to order an early attack on the Philippines in 1941–42, including the fortified Bataan peninsula. He secured the deployment of army air power in the [[Guadalcanal campaign]]. Following Japan's withdrawal from Guadalcanal he demanded a new offensive in [[New Guinea]], which was duly carried out but failed badly. Unhappy with the navy's conduct of the war, he criticized its withdrawal from the central [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]] and demanded naval battles against the Americans for the losses they had inflicted in the Aleutians. The battles were disasters. Finally, it was at his insistence that plans were drafted for the recapture of [[Saipan]] and, later, for an offensive in the [[Battle of Okinawa]].<ref>Herbert Bix, "Emperor Hirohito's war," ''History Today,'' (Dec 1991), 41#12</ref>  With the Army and Navy bitterly feuding, he settled disputes over the allocation of resources. He helped plan military offenses.<ref>Herbert P. Bix "Japan's Delayed Surrender: a Reinterpretation." ''Diplomatic History'' 1995 19(2): 197–225. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24912294 online].</ref>

In September 1944, Hirohito declared that it must be his citizens' resolve to smash the evil purposes of the Westerners so that their imperial destiny might continue, but all along, it is just a mask for the urgent need of Japan to scratch a victory against the counter-offensive campaign of the Allied Forces.{{sfn|Bix|2016|pp=480-481}}

On 18 October 1944, Imperial headquarters had resolved that the Japanese must make a stand in the vicinity of Leyte to prevent the Americans from landing in the Philippines. This view was widely frowned upon by the policymakers from both the army and navy sectors. Hirohito was quoted that he approved of such a stand, as if they won in this campaign, they might finally force the Americans to negotiate. Despite the hopeful outlook, a reality check for the Japanese was coming, as the forces that had been sent to attack Leyte, were also the ones designated to defend the island of Luzon, striking a huge blow to the Japanese military strategy.{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=481}}

The media, under tight government control, repeatedly portrayed him as lifting the popular morale even as the Japanese cities came under heavy air attack in 1944–45 and food and housing shortages mounted.  Japanese retreats and defeats were celebrated by the media as successes that portended "Certain Victory."<ref>David C. Earhart, ''Certain Victory: Images of World War II in the Japanese Media'' (2015).</ref> Only gradually did it become apparent to the Japanese people that the situation was very grim owing to growing shortages of food, medicine, and fuel as U.S. submarines began wiping out Japanese shipping. Starting in mid 1944, American raids on the major cities of Japan made a mockery of the unending tales of victory. Later that year, with the downfall of Tojo's government, two other prime ministers were appointed to continue the war effort, [[Kuniaki Koiso]] and [[Kantarō Suzuki]]—each with the formal approval of Hirohito. Both were unsuccessful and Japan was nearing disaster.<ref>{{cite book |author=Robert A. Pape |title=Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_6tDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |year=2014 |pages=117–118 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801471513}}</ref>

==== Surrender ====
{{Main|Surrender of Japan}}

{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2017}}<!--3 paragraphs have no citations.-->
[[File:Emperor Hirohito of Japan or the Shōwa Emperor on the ship Musashi 1943-06-24, from- 島村信政5 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Emperor Hirohito on the battleship ''Musashi'', 24 June 1943]]
In early 1945, in the wake of the losses in the [[Battle of Leyte]], Emperor Hirohito began a series of individual meetings with senior government officials to consider the progress of the war. All but ex-Prime Minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]] advised continuing the war. Konoe feared a communist revolution even more than defeat in war and urged a negotiated surrender. In February 1945, during the first private audience with Hirohito he had been allowed in three years,{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=756}} Konoe advised Hirohito to begin negotiations to end the war. According to Grand Chamberlain [[Hisanori Fujita]], Hirohito, still looking for a ''tennozan'' (a great victory) in order to provide a stronger bargaining position, firmly rejected Konoe's recommendation.<ref>Fujita Hisanori, ''Jijûchô no kaisô'', Chûô Kôronsha, 1987, pp. 66–67</ref>{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=489}}

With each passing week victory 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 strategy was officially affirmed at a brief Imperial Council meeting, at which, as was normal, Hirohito did not speak.

The following day, [[Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan|Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal]] [[Kōichi Kido]] prepared a draft document which summarized the hopeless military situation and proposed a negotiated settlement. Extremists in Japan were also calling for a death-before-dishonor mass suicide, modeled on the "[[Forty-seven rōnin|47 Ronin]]" incident. By mid-June 1945, the cabinet had agreed to approach the Soviet Union to act as a mediator for a negotiated surrender but not before Japan's bargaining position had been improved by repulse of the anticipated Allied invasion of mainland Japan.

On 22 June, Hirohito met with 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. There was always the threat that extremists would carry out a coup or foment other violence. On 26 July 1945, the Allies issued the [[Potsdam Declaration]] demanding [[unconditional surrender]]. The Japanese government council, the Big Six, considered that option and recommended to Hirohito that it be accepted only if one to four conditions were agreed upon, including a guarantee of Hirohito's continued position in [[Culture of Japan|Japanese society]].

That changed after the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] and the Soviet declaration of war. On 9 August, Emperor Hirohito told [[Kōichi Kido]]: "The Soviet Union has declared war and today began hostilities against us."<ref>Kido Kōichi Nikki, p. 1223.</ref> On 10 August, the cabinet drafted an "[[Imperial Rescript ending the War]]" following Hirohito's indications that the declaration did not comprise any demand which prejudiced his prerogatives as a sovereign ruler.

On 12 August 1945, Hirohito informed the imperial family of his decision to surrender. One of his uncles, [[Prince Yasuhiko Asaka]], asked whether the war would be continued if the ''[[kokutai]]'' (national polity) could not be preserved. Hirohito simply replied "Of course."{{sfn|Hidenari|1991|p=129}} On 14 August, Hirohito made the decision to surrender "unconditionally"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=H. G. |title=The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=1971 |editor-last=Wells |editor-first=G. P. |editor-link=G. P. Wells |volume=2 |location=New York |pages=991 |author-link=H. G. Wells |editor-last2=Postgate |editor-first2=Raymond |editor-link2=Raymond Postgate}}</ref> and the Suzuki government notified the Allies that it had accepted the [[Potsdam Declaration]].

On 15 August, a recording of [[Hirohito surrender broadcast|Hirohito's surrender speech]] was broadcast over the radio (the first time Hirohito was heard on the radio by the Japanese people) announcing Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. During the historic broadcast Hirohito stated: "Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization." The speech also noted that "the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" and ordered the Japanese to "endure the unendurable." The speech, using formal, archaic Japanese, was not readily understood by many commoners. According to historian [[Richard Storry]] in ''A History of Modern Japan'', Hirohito typically used "a form of language familiar only to the well-educated" and to the more traditional [[samurai]] families.<ref>{{cite book |author1-link=Richard Storry |first=Richard |last=Storry |title=A History of Modern Japan |year=1991 |publisher=Penguin}}</ref>

A faction of the army opposed to the surrender attempted a [[coup d'état]] on the evening of 14 August, prior to the broadcast. They seized the Imperial Palace (the [[Kyūjō incident]]), but the physical recording of Hirohito's speech was hidden and preserved overnight. The coup failed, and the speech was broadcast the next morning.<ref name=Rescript>{{cite web |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/August%202012/0812keeper.aspx |title=Hirohito's "Jewel Voice Broadcast" |publisher=The Air Force Association |date=August 2012 |access-date=14 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910212019/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/August%202012/0812keeper.aspx |archive-date=10 September 2013}}</ref>

In his first ever press conference given in Tokyo in 1975, when he was asked what he thought of the bombing of Hiroshima, Hirohito answered: "It's very regrettable that nuclear bombs were dropped and I feel sorry for the citizens of Hiroshima but it couldn't be helped because that happened in wartime" (''[[shikata ga nai]]'', meaning "it cannot be helped").{{sfn|Bix|2016|p=676}}{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=606}}

== Postwar reign ==
{{Conservatism in Japan|expanded=Politicians}}[[File:Emperor Hirohito and General MacArthur.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and White photo of two men|[[Gaetano Faillace]]'s photograph of [[Douglas MacArthur|General MacArthur]] and Hirohito at Allied General Headquarters in Tokyo, 27 September 1945]]
After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, there was a large amount of pressure that came from both Allied countries and Japanese leftists that demanded Hirohito step down and be indicted as a war criminal.<ref name="Yinan-He">{{cite book |title=The Search for Reconciliation: Sino-Japanese and German-Polish Relations since World War II |year=2015 |first=Yinan|url=https://archive.org/details/searchforreconci0000heyi/page/124/mode/2up |last=He|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-51440-8 }}, pp. 125–126</ref> Australia, Britain and 70 percent of the American public wanted Hirohito tried as a Class-A war criminal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/hirohito-the-war-criminal-who-got-away/ |title=Hirohito, the war criminal who got away |date=20 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/files/iwg/japanese-war-crimes/select-documents.pdf |title=Select Documents on Japanese War Crimes and Japanese Biological Warfare, 1934–2006 |last=Cunliffe |first=William H. |website=archives.gov |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref> General [[Douglas MacArthur]] did not like the idea, as he thought that an ostensibly cooperating emperor would help establish a peaceful allied occupation regime in Japan.<ref name="thediplomat.com">{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/should-the-united-states-be-blamed-for-japans-historical-revisionism/ |title=Should the United States be Blamed for Japan's Historical Revisionism? |last=Gady |first=Franz-Stefan |work=The Diplomat |date=15 August 2015 |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Bix|2000|p=545}} MacArthur saw Hirohito as a symbol of the continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. To avoid the possibility of civil unrest in Japan, any possible evidence that would incriminate Hirohito and his family were excluded from the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]].<ref name="thediplomat.com"/> MacArthur created a plan that separated Hirohito from the militarists, retained Hirohito as a [[constitutional monarch]] but only as a figurehead, and used Hirohito to retain control over Japan to help achieve American postwar objectives in Japan.{{sfn|Bix|2000|p=545}}

As Hirohito appointed his uncle and daughter's father-in-law, [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]] as the Prime Minister to replace Kantarō Suzuki, who resigned owing to responsibility for the surrender, to assist the American occupation, there were attempts by numerous leaders to have him put on trial for alleged [[war crimes]]. Many members of the imperial family, such as [[Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu|Princes Chichibu]], [[Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu|Takamatsu]], and Higashikuni, pressured Hirohito to abdicate so that one of the Princes could serve as regent until his eldest son, Crown Prince [[Akihito]] came of age.<ref>Bix, pp. 571–573.</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2023}} On 27 February 1946, Hirohito's youngest brother, [[Prince Mikasa]], even stood up in the privy council and indirectly urged Hirohito to step down and accept responsibility for Japan's defeat. According to Minister of Welfare Ashida's diary, "Everyone seemed to ponder Mikasa's words. Never have I seen His Majesty's face so pale."<ref>''Ashida Hitoshi Nikki, Dai Ikkan'', Iwanami Shoten, 1986, p. 82.</ref>

Before the war crime trials actually convened, the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]], its International Prosecution Section (IPS) and Japanese officials worked behind the scenes not only to prevent the Imperial family from being indicted, but also to influence the testimony of the defendants to ensure that no one implicated Hirohito. High officials in court circles and the Japanese government collaborated with Allied General Headquarters in compiling lists of prospective war criminals, while the individuals arrested as ''Class A'' suspects and incarcerated solemnly vowed to protect their sovereign against any possible taint of war responsibility.{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=325}} Thus, "months before the [[Tokyo tribunal]] commenced, MacArthur's highest subordinates were working to attribute ultimate responsibility for Pearl Harbor to [[Hideki Tōjō]]"{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=585}} by allowing "the major criminal suspects to coordinate their stories so that Hirohito would be spared from indictment."{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=583}} According to [[John W. Dower]], "This successful campaign to absolve Hirohito of war responsibility knew no bounds. Hirohito was not merely presented as being innocent of any formal acts that might make him culpable to indictment as a war criminal, he was turned into an almost saintly figure who did not even bear moral responsibility for the war."{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=326}} According to Bix, "MacArthur's truly extraordinary measures to save Hirohito from trial as a war criminal had a lasting and profoundly distorting impact on Japanese understanding of the lost war."<ref>Bix, p. 585.</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2023}}

Historian [[Gary J. Bass]] presented evidence supporting Hirohito's responsibility in the war, noting that had he been prosecuted as some judges and others advocated, a compelling case could have been constructed against him. However, the Americans were apprehensive that removing the emperor from power and subjecting him to trial could trigger widespread chaos and collapse of Japan, given his revered status among the Japanese populace.<ref name=":2" /> Additionally, the advent of the [[Cold War]] brought about harsh political circumstances. Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese [[Kuomintang|nationalists]] were losing the [[Chinese Civil War]] to [[Mao Zedong]]'s [[Chinese Communist Party]], prompting the [[Truman administration]] to consider the potential [[loss of China]] as an ally and strategic partner. As a result, ensuring Japan's strength and stability became imperative for securing a reliable postwar ally.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=19 October 2023 |title=Review {{!}} A riveting history of the Japanese war crimes trial after World War II |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/10/19/judgment-tokyo-trial-gary-bass/ |access-date=23 May 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |issn=0190-8286}}{{better source needed|reason=Why are we citing a book review, and not the actual book?|date=November 2024}}</ref>

===Imperial status===
Hirohito was not put on trial, but he was forced{{sfn|Dower|1999|pp=308–318}} to [[Humanity Declaration|explicitly reject]] the quasi-official claim that the emperor was ''[[arahitogami]]'', or an incarnate divinity. This was motivated by the fact that, according to the [[Meiji Constitution|Japanese constitution of 1889]], the emperor had a divine power over his country. In turn, this provision was derived from the [[Shinto]] belief that the Japanese Imperial Family were the descendants of the sun goddess [[Amaterasu]]. Hirohito was however persistent in the idea that the Emperor of Japan should be considered a descendant of the gods. In December 1945, he told his vice-grand-chamberlain Michio Kinoshita: "It is permissible to say that the idea that the Japanese are descendants of the gods is a false conception; but it is absolutely impermissible to call [[wikt:chimerical|chimerical]] the idea that the Emperor is a descendant of the gods."{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|p=3}} In any case, the "renunciation of divinity" was noted more by foreigners than by Japanese, and seems to have been intended for the consumption of the former.{{efn|Many foreigners, including those from the occupying power, were from [[Western countries]] steeped in monotheistic [[Abrahamic traditions]].}} The theory of a constitutional monarchy had already had some proponents in Japan. In 1935, when Tatsukichi Minobe advocated the theory that sovereignty resides in the state, of which the Emperor is just an organ (the ''tennō kikan setsu''), it caused a furor. He was forced to resign from the House of Peers and his post at the Tokyo Imperial University, his books were banned, and an attempt was made on his life.<ref>Large, Stephen S.; ''Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: A Political Biography'', p. 60; Routledge, 1992.</ref> Not until 1946 was the tremendous step made to alter the Emperor's title from "imperial sovereign" to "[[constitutional monarch]]."<ref name="tandfonline.com">{{Cite journal |last1=Kawai |first1=Kazuo |year=1958 |title=The Divinity of the Japanese Emperor |journal=Political Science |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=3–14 |doi=10.1177/003231875801000201}}</ref>

Although the Emperor had supposedly repudiated claims to divinity, his public position was deliberately left vague, partly because [[General MacArthur]] thought him probable to be a useful partner to get the Japanese to accept the occupation and partly owing to behind-the-scenes maneuvering by [[Shigeru Yoshida]] to thwart attempts to cast him as a European-style monarch.

[[File:Hirohito Signing.JPG|upright=0.9|right|thumb|Hirohito signing Japan's 1947 constitution]]
Nevertheless, Hirohito's status as a limited constitutional monarch was formalized with the enactment of the [[Constitution of Japan|1947 constitution]]–officially, an amendment to the Meiji Constitution, but in truth an entirely new document written by the United States. It defined the Emperor as "the symbol of the state and the unity of the people." His role was redefined as entirely ceremonial and representative, without even nominal governmental powers. He was limited to performing matters of state as delineated in the Constitution, and in most cases his actions in that realm were carried out in accordance with the binding instructions of the Cabinet.<ref>Urs Schöttli, "The enduring value of Japan’s emperor"  ''GIS Reports: Politics'' 11 June 2019 [https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/japans-emperor/ online]</ref>

Following the [[Iranian Revolution]] and the end of the short-lived [[Central African Empire]], both in 1979, Hirohito found himself the last monarch in the world to bear any variation of the highest royal title "emperor."

===Public figure===
He was not only the first reigning Japanese emperor to visit foreign countries, but also the first to meet an American president.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Hirohito |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hirohito |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=25 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=『皇族 天皇家の近現代史』 |trans-title=The Imperial Family: A Modern and Contemporary History of the Japanese Imperial Family |first=Yuji |last=Odabe |publisher=Chuokoron-Shinsha |date=June 2009 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/%E7%9A%87%E6%97%8F/6GYyAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%E7%9A%87%E6%97%8F%20%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87%E5%AE%B6%E3%81%AE%E8%BF%91%E7%8F%BE%E4%BB%A3%E5%8F%B2 |isbn=978-4-1210-2011-6 |access-date=29 December 2025 |language=ja}}</ref> His status and image became strongly positive in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brands |first=Hal |title=The Emperor's New Clothes: American Views of Hirohito after World War II |journal=Historian |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=1–28 |year=2006 |s2cid=145812761 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.2006.00133.x}}</ref>

====Visit to Europe====
[[File:Emperor Shōwa and Nixon 1971.jpg|thumb|upright=0.81|left|Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako with U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Pat Nixon]] in [[Anchorage]], 27 September 1971]]
The talks between Emperor Hirohito and President Nixon were not planned at the outset, because initially the stop in the United States was only for refueling to visit Europe. However, the meeting was decided in a hurry at the request of the United States. Although the Japanese side accepted the request, [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] [[Takeo Fukuda]] made a public telephone call to the Japanese ambassador to the United States [[Nobuhiko Ushiba]], who promoted talks, saying, "that will cause me a great deal of trouble. We want to correct the perceptions of the other party." At that time, Foreign Minister Fukuda was worried that President Nixon's talks with Hirohito would be used to repair the deteriorating [[Japan–U.S. relations]], and he was concerned that the premise of the symbolic emperor system could fluctuate.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ja:米側の昭和天皇政治利用に外相が「迷惑千万」 外交文書公開 |date=7 March 2013 |url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/130307/plc13030711450008-n1.htm |access-date=7 March 2013 |website=MSN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310040504/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/130307/plc13030711450008-n1.htm |archive-date=10 March 2013 |language=ja |trans-title=In 1971, the Foreign Minister expressed strong disapproval of the U.S.'s political manipulation of Emperor Hirohito, calling it "extremely troublesome."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toyoeiwa.ac.jp/daigakuin/k_i_column/kyoin/kyoin_hiroshimasuda_01.html |script-title=ja:外交文書公開に関する備忘録｜教員からのメッセージ｜教員・院生からのメッセージ｜東洋英和女学院大学大学院 |trans-title=Memorandum on the Declassification of Diplomatic Documents Regarding the 1971 meeting between Emperor Showa and Nixon |website=The Graduate School of Toyo Eiwa University |language=ja}}</ref>

[[File:Tweedaags bezoek Keizer Hirohito en Keizerin Nagako a an Nederland, Keizer en Ke, Bestanddeelnr 925-0238.jpg|thumb|upright|Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako arriving in the [[Netherlands]], 8 October 1971]]
There was an early visit with deep royal exchanges in Denmark and Belgium. In France, Hirohito was warmly welcomed, and reunited with [[Edward VIII]], who had [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdicated]] in 1936 and was virtually in exile, and they chatted for a while. However, protests were held in Britain and the Netherlands by veterans who had served in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II]] and civilian victims of the brutal occupation there. In the Netherlands, raw eggs and vacuum flasks were thrown. The protest was so severe that Empress Nagako, who accompanied the Emperor, was exhausted. In the United Kingdom, protestors stood in silence and turned their backs when Hirohito's carriage passed them while others wore red gloves to symbolize the dead.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nine controversial state visits to the UK |url=https://news.sky.com/story/five-controversial-state-visits-to-the-uk-10748635 |website=Sky News |date=4 June 2019 |access-date=6 June 2020}}</ref> The satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' used a racist [[double entendre]] to refer to Hirohito's visit ("nasty [[Nip]] in the air").<ref>Popham, Peter (15 May 1996). [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-love-affair-at-work-turns-sour-1347366.html "A love affair at work turns sour"]. ''[[The Independent]]''. London. Retrieved 15 September 2018.</ref> In [[West Germany]], the Japanese monarch's visit was met with hostile far-left protests, participants of which viewed Hirohito as the [[East Asia]]n equivalent of [[Adolf Hitler]] and referred to him as "Hirohitler", and prompted a wider comparative discussion of the memory and perception of Axis war crimes. The protests against Hirohito's visit also condemned and highlighted what they perceived as mutual Japanese and West German complicity in and enabling of the American [[Vietnam War|war effort]] against communism in [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Macartney |first=Alex F. |title=Hirohitler on the Rhine: Transnational Protest Against the Japanese Emperor's 1971 West German State Visit |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=622–644 |date=27 April 2020 |s2cid=219066676 |doi=10.1177/0022009420907666}}</ref>

Regarding these protests and opposition, Emperor Hirohito was not surprised to have received a report in advance at a press conference on 12 November after returning to Japan and said that "I do not think that welcome can be ignored" from each country.<ref name="otazune193" /> Also, at a press conference following their golden wedding anniversary three years later, along with the Empress, he mentioned this visit to Europe as his most enjoyable memory in 50 years.<ref name="otazune193">[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken anchor|date=16 June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 193</ref>

====Visit to the United States====
[[File:Ford and Emperor1975.jpg|thumb|Empress Nagako, First Lady [[Betty Ford]], Emperor Hirohito, and President [[Gerald Ford]] at the White House before a state dinner held in honor of the Japanese head of state for the first time, 2 October 1975]]

In 1975, Hirohito and Nagako visited the United States for 14 days from 30 September to 14 October, at the invitation of President Gerald Ford. The visit was the first such event in US–Japanese history.{{efn|The reason a visit had not occurred prior to this was, in part, because the [[Act for Extraordinary Vicarious Execution of State Affairs]] had not yet been put into law. Despite this, visits to the United States had been planned in 1973 and 1974, but never occurred owing to lack of coordination.}} The United States Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard honored the state visit. Before and after the visit, a series of terrorist attacks in Japan were caused by anti-American left-wing organizations such as the [[East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front]].

After arriving in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] on 30 September 1975, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako stayed in the United States for two weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title=1975 saw Hirohito in Williamsburg |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19890107-1989-01-07-8901070135-story.html |newspaper=[[Daily Press (Virginia)|Daily Press]] |location=Newport News, Virginia |date=7 January 1989 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> The official meeting with President Ford occurred on 2 October.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0204/7368373.pdf |title=Ron Nessen Papers: State Visits - Emperor Hirohito |website=Ford Library Museum |access-date=29 December 2025}}</ref> On 3 October, Hirohito visited [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Philip |last=Shabecoff |date=4 October 1975 |title=At Arlington Cemetery, a Wreath From 'the Emperor and Empress of Japan' |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/04/archives/at-arlington-cemetery-a-wreath-from-the-emperor-and-empress-of.html |access-date=28 November 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> On 6 October, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako visited Vice President and Mrs. Rockefeller at their home in [[Westchester County, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |date=6 October 1975 |title=A Rare Glimpse |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/06/archives/a-rare-glimpse.html |access-date=28 November 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In a speech at the White House state dinner, Hirohito read, "Thanks to the United States for helping to rebuild Japan after the war." During his stay in Los Angeles, he visited [[Disneyland]], and a smiling photo next to [[Mickey Mouse]] adorned the newspapers, and there was talk about the purchase of a Mickey Mouse watch.<ref>{{cite news |last=Moffat |first=Susan |date=20 June 1994 |title=Image-Building a Goal of Japan Emperor's Visit |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-20-mn-6343-story.html |access-date=3 February 2023 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Two types of commemorative stamps and stamp sheets were issued on the day of their return to Japan which demonstrated that the visit had been a significant undertaking.<ref>{{cite web |title=Issue: Emperor Hirohito & Empress Nagako Visit to USA (Japan, 1975) |url=https://touchstamps.com/Issue/Details/64411/emperor-hirohito-empress-nagako-visit-to-usa |website=TouchStamps |access-date=29 December 2025}}</ref> This was the last visit of Emperor Shōwa to the United States. The official press conference held by the Emperor and Empress before and after their visit also marked a breakthrough.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

====Marine biology====
[[File:Emperor Showa in laboratory.jpg|thumb|Emperor Hirohito in his laboratory, 1950]]
Hirohito was deeply interested in and well-informed about marine biology, and the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]] contained a laboratory from which Hirohito published several papers in the field under his personal name "Hirohito".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/about/history/history11.html |title=The brief career of the Emperor Showa (Imperial Household Agency, Japanese) |publisher=Kunaicho.go.jp |access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref> His contributions included the description of several dozen species of [[Hydrozoa]] new to science.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/hydrozoa/aphia.php?p=taxlist&searchpar=4&tComp=begins&tName=hirohito&action=search&rSkips=0&adv=0 |title=Hydrozoa Taxon List |website=World Hydrozoa Database |access-date=6 January 2016}}</ref>

===Yasukuni Shrine===
Hirohito maintained an official boycott of the [[Yasukuni Shrine]] after it was revealed to him that Class-A war criminals had secretly been enshrined after its post-war rededication. This boycott lasted from 1978 until his death and has been continued by his successors, [[Akihito]] and [[Naruhito]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Explainer: Why Yasukuni shrine is a controversial symbol of Japan's war legacy |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/why-yasukuni-shrine-is-controversial-symbol-japans-war-legacy-2021-08-13/ |website=Reuters |date=15 August 2021 |access-date=11 July 2023}}</ref>

On 20 July 2006, ''[[Nihon Keizai Shimbun]]'' published a front-page article about the discovery of a memorandum detailing the reason that Hirohito stopped visiting Yasukuni. The memorandum, kept by former chief of [[Imperial Household Agency]] Tomohiko Tomita, confirms for the first time that the enshrinement of 14 [[Class-A war criminal]]s in Yasukuni was the reason for the boycott. Tomita recorded in detail the contents of his conversations with Hirohito in his diaries and notebooks. According to the memorandum, in 1988, Hirohito expressed his strong displeasure at the decision made by Yasukuni Shrine to include Class-A war criminals in the list of war dead honored there by saying, "At some point, Class-A criminals became enshrined, including [[Yōsuke Matsuoka|Matsuoka]] and [[Toshio Shiratori|Shiratori]]. I heard Tsukuba acted cautiously." Tsukuba is believed to refer to Fujimaro Tsukuba, the former chief Yasukuni priest at the time, who decided not to enshrine the war criminals despite having received in 1966 the list of war dead compiled by the government. "What's on the mind of Matsudaira's son, who is the current head priest?" "Matsudaira had a strong wish for peace, but the child didn't know the parent's heart. That's why I have not visited the shrine since. This is my heart." Matsudaira is believed to refer to Yoshitami Matsudaira, who was the grand steward of the Imperial Household immediately after the end of World War II. His son, Nagayoshi, succeeded Fujimaro Tsukuba as the chief priest of Yasukuni and decided to enshrine the war criminals in 1978.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hirohito visits to Yasukuni stopped over war criminals |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060721a1.html |newspaper=The Japan Times Online |date=21 July 2006 |access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref>

==Death and state funeral==
{{main|Death and state funeral of Hirohito}}

[[File:Showa Shrine.jpg|thumb|Emperor Shōwa's tomb in the [[Musashi Imperial Graveyard]], Hachiōji, Tokyo]]

On 22 September 1987, Hirohito underwent surgery on his [[pancreas]] after having digestive problems for several months. The doctors discovered that he had [[duodenal cancer]]. Hirohito appeared to be making a full recovery for several months after the surgery. About a year later, however, on 19 September 1988, he collapsed in his palace, and his health worsened over the next several months as he suffered from continuous internal bleeding.

The Emperor died at 6:33 am on 7 January 1989 at the age of 87. The announcement from the grand steward of Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Shoichi Fujimori, revealed details about his cancer for the first time. Hirohito was survived by his wife, his five surviving children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.<ref name="survivors">{{cite web |title=Hirohito's survivors |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-japan-archive-1989jan07-story.html#page=3 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=7 January 1989 |access-date=3 December 2016}}</ref>

At the time of his death, he was both the oldest and longest-reigning historical Japanese emperor, as well as the [[List of longest-reigning monarchs|longest-reigning living monarch]] in the world at that time, a distinction which passed to the [[Prince of Liechtenstein]], [[Franz Joseph II]], until his own death in November of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 November 1989 |title=Liechtenstein's Prince Franz Josef II, 83 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-15-mn-1750-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

The Emperor was succeeded by his eldest son, [[Akihito]] ({{Reign|1989|2019}}), whose [[Enthronement of the Japanese emperor|enthronement ceremony]] was held on 12 November 1990 at the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]].<ref>{{cite web |date=25 May 2021 |title=Hirohito |url=https://www.biography.com/political-figures/hirohito |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Biography}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Akihito |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Akihito |access-date=24 April 2023 |date=4 April 2023}}</ref>

Hirohito's death ended the [[Shōwa era]]. On the next day, 8 January 1989, a new [[Japanese era name|era]] began: the [[Heisei era]], effective at midnight the following day. From 7 January until 31 January, Hirohito's formal appellation was {{Nihongo|"Departed Emperor"|大行天皇|Taikō-tennō}}. His definitive [[posthumous name]], {{Nihongo|Emperor Shōwa|昭和天皇|Shōwa-tennō}}, was determined on 13 January and formally released on 31 January by Prime Minister [[Noboru Takeshita]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

On 24 February, Hirohito's state funeral was held at the [[Shinjuku Gyo-en]], and unlike that of his predecessor, it was formal but not conducted in a strictly [[Shinto]] manner. A large number of world leaders attended the funeral. Hirohito was buried in the [[Musashi Imperial Graveyard]] in [[Hachiōji]], [[Tokyo]] alongside his late parents. Following his wife's death in 2000, she was buried near him.

== Accountability for Japanese war crimes ==
The issue of Emperor Hirohito's war responsibility remains contested.<ref name="matsuno2729">{{cite book |last1=Yoshimi |first1=Yoshiaki |title={{Nihongo||毒ガス戦関係資料. II|Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryō II}}, Kaisetsu |last2=Matsuno |first2=Seiya |publisher=Fuji Shuppan |year=1997 |series={{Nihongo||十五年戦争極秘資料集|Jugonen Sensō Gokuhi Shiryoshu}} |location=Tōkyō |pages=27–29 |author-link1=Yoshiaki Yoshimi}}</ref> During the war, the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] frequently depicted Hirohito to equate with [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] as the three [[Axis powers|Axis]] dictators.<ref name="Warriors-Scholars">{{cite book |last=Divine |first=Dr. Robert A. |title=Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War reader |year=2005}}, edited by Peter B. Lane and Ronald E. Marcello, pp. 94–96</ref> According to Bix, U.S. authorities thought that the retention of the emperor would help establish a peaceful allied occupation regime in Japan and they therefore depicted Hirohito as a "powerless figurehead" without any implication in wartime policies.{{sfn|Bix|2000|p=545}} Starting with the publication of specific archival records in the 1960s and continuing after Hirohito's death in 1989, a growing body of evidence and historical studies started to dispute the theory that he was a powerless figurehead.<ref name="Warriors-Scholars" /><ref name="Atomic-Heritage">{{cite web |title=Emperor Hirohito |url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/emperor-hirohito |website=Atomic Heritage Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Laquerre |first=Paul-Yanic |title=Showa: Chronicles of a Fallen God |year=2013}}, Preface</ref> In recent years, the debate over the Emperor's role in the war has focused on the exact extent of his involvement in political and military affairs (as it is now widely accepted that he had at least some degree of involvement).<ref name="Wetzler 2020">{{cite book |last=Wetzler |first=Peter |year=2020 |title=Imperial Japan and Defeat in the Second World War: The Collapse of an Empire |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=175 |isbn=978-1350246799}}</ref>{{sfn|Rich|2018}}

Historian Peter Wetzler said that: <blockquote>"The debate, however, about Hirohito's participation in political and military affairs during the Second World War -whether or not (at first) and to what extent (later)- still continues. It will animate authors for years to come. Now most historians acknowledge that the Emperor was deeply involved, like all nation-state leaders at that time."<ref name="Wetzler 2020" /></blockquote>

Jennifer Lind, associate professor of government at [[Dartmouth College]] and a specialist in Japanese war memory, states that: <blockquote>"Over the years, these different pieces of evidence have trickled out and historians have amassed this picture of culpability and how he was reflecting on that. This is another piece of the puzzle that very much confirms that the picture that was taking place before, which is that he was extremely culpable, and after the war he was devastated about this."{{sfn|Rich|2018}}</blockquote> As new evidence surfaced over the years, historians concluded that he bore at least some amount of culpability for the war's outbreak and the crimes perpetrated by Japan's military during that period.<ref name="Wetzler 2020" />{{sfn|Rich|2018}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Ruoff |first=Kenneth J. |year=2020 |title=Japan's Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945-2019 |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |pages=95–98 |isbn=978-0674244481}}</ref>

=== Evidence for wartime culpability ===

==== Historians' assessments ====
{{see also|Chrysanthemum taboo}}
Historians who point to a higher degree of the Emperor's involvement in the war have stated that Hirohito was directly responsible for the [[Japanese war crimes|atrocities committed by the imperial forces]] in the Second Sino-Japanese War and in World War II. They have said that he and some members of the imperial family, such as his brother [[Prince Chichibu]], his cousins the princes [[Prince Takeda Tsuneyoshi|Takeda]] and [[Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu|Fushimi]], and his uncles the princes [[Prince Kan'in Kotohito|Kan'in]], [[Prince Asaka|Asaka]], and [[Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko|Higashikuni]], should have been tried for [[war crime]]s.{{sfn|Dower|1999}}{{page needed|date=October 2023}}<ref name="ReferenceA">Bix.</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2023}} In a study published in 1996, historian Mitsuyoshi Himeta said that the [[Three Alls policy]] (''Sankō Sakusen''), a Japanese [[scorched earth]] policy adopted in [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] and sanctioned by Emperor Hirohito himself, was both directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of "more than 2.7 million" Chinese civilians. In ''[[Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan]]'', [[Herbert P. Bix]] said the ''Sankō Sakusen'' far surpassed [[Nanking Massacre]] not only in terms of numbers, but in brutality. According to Bix, "[t]hese military operations caused death and suffering on a scale incomparably greater than the totally unplanned orgy of killing in Nanking, which later came to symbolize the war".{{Sfn|Bix|2001|p=365}} While the Nanking Massacre was unplanned, Bix said "Hirohito knew of and approved annihilation campaigns in China that included burning villages thought to harbor guerrillas."<ref name="Tajima-notes"/> Likewise,  in August 2000, the [[Los Angeles Times]] reported that top U.S. government officials were fully aware of the emperor's intimate role during the war.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=14 August 2000 |title=Detail All of Hirohito's Role |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-14-me-4022-story.html |access-date=24 November 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to [[Yuki Tanaka (historian)|Yuki Tanaka]], [[Emeritus]] Research Professor of History at [[Hiroshima City University]], the war records at the Defense Agency National Institute provide evidence that Hirohito was heavily involved in creating war policies.<ref name="Tanaka 2023">{{cite book |last=Tanaka |first=Yuki |title=Entwined Atrocities. New Insights into the U.S.-Japan Alliance |location=New York |publisher=Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers |pages=xxxvi-xxxvii |year=2023 |isbn=978-1433199530}}</ref> He further stated that Japanese statesmen [[Kido Kōichi]]'s wartime journal undeniably proves that Hirohito had a crucial role in the final decision to wage a war against the Allied nations in December 1941.<ref name="Tanaka 2023"/>

According to Francis Pike, Hirohito was deeply engaged in military operations and commissioned a war room beneath the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]] to closely monitor Japan's military activities.<ref name="Pike">{{cite web |url=https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/five-myths-about-emperor-hirohito |title=Five Myths About Emperor Hirohito |work=History News Network |first=Francis |last=Pike |date=26 July 2015 |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> Pike further noted that the extensive resources required for regular updates to the Emperor often drew complaints from military officials.<ref name="Pike"/> To celebrate significant military victories, he rode his white horse in parades in front of the Imperial Palace.<ref name="Pike"/>

According to Peter Wetzler, he was actively involved in the decision to launch the war as well as in other political and military decisions.{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|p=3}}

Poison gas weapons, such as [[phosgene]], were produced by [[Unit 731]] and authorized by specific orders given by Hirohito himself, transmitted by the chief of staff of the army. Hirohito authorized the use of chemical weapons 375 times during the [[Battle of Wuhan]] from August to October 1938.<ref name="matsuno2729"/> He rewarded [[Shirō Ishii]], who was the head of the medical experimentation unit and Unit 731, with a special service medal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/hirohito-the-war-criminal-who-got-away/#:~:text=Belying%20the%20post%2Dwar%20myth,the%20Germans'%20Josef%20Mengele)%2C |title=Hirohito, the war criminal who got away |work=The Spectator |first=Francis |last=Pike |date=22 August 2020 |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>

[[Prince Mikasa]], the younger brother of Hirohito, informed the [[Yomiuri Shimbun]] that during 1944, he compiled a thorough report detailing the wartime atrocities perpetrated by Japanese soldiers in China.<ref name="tribune">{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/07/07/new-hirohito-revelations-startle-japan/ |title=New Hirohito Revelations Startle Japan |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=7 July 1994 |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> He clarified that he didn't directly discuss the report with Hirohito; however, he added that "when I met with him, I did report on the China situation in bits and pieces."<ref name="tribune"/>  Additionally, he recalled showing Hirohito a Chinese-produced film depicting Japanese atrocities.<ref name="tribune"/>

Officially, the imperial constitution, adopted under [[Emperor Meiji]], gave full power to the Emperor. Article 4 prescribed that, "The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution." Likewise, according to article 6, "The Emperor gives sanction to laws and orders them to be promulgated and executed," and article 11, "The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and the Navy." The Emperor was thus the leader of the [[Imperial General Headquarters]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1889 Japanese Constitution |url=https://history.hanover.edu/texts/1889con.html |website=history.hanover.edu}}</ref>

According to Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi of [[York University]], Hirohito's authority up to 1945 depended on three elements:

<blockquote> First, he was a constitutional monarch subject to legal restrictions and binding conventions, as he has so often stressed. Second, he was supreme commander of Japanese armed forces, though his orders were often ignored and sometimes defied. Third, he wielded absolute moral authority in Japan by granting imperial honors that conveyed incontestable prestige and by issuing imperial rescripts that had coercive power greater than law. [¶] In the postwar era, the Japanese Government, some Japanese historians, and Hirohito himself have downplayed or ignored these second and third elements, where were strongest up to 1945; and they have overemphasized the first, which was weakest. Hirohito was no despot. But he did retain 'absolute' power in the sense of ultimate and final authority to sanction a particular policy decision by agreeing with it, or to force its reformulation or abandonment by disagreeing with it. When he really wanted to put his foot down, he did –– even to the army."{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=19-20}}</blockquote>

Wakabayashi further adds:
<blockquote>...as a matter of course, [Hirohito] wanted to keep what his generals conquered -- though he was less greedy than some of them. None of this should surprise us. Hirohito would no more have granted Korea independence or returned Manchuria to China than Roosevelt would have granted Hawaii independence or returned Texas to Mexico.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17}}</blockquote>

Historians such as [[Herbert Bix]], [[Akira Fujiwara]], Peter Wetzler, and [[Akira Yamada]] assert that post-war arguments favoring the view that Hirohito was a mere figurehead overlook the importance of numerous "behind the chrysanthemum curtain" meetings where the real decisions were made between the Emperor, his chiefs of staff, and the cabinet. Using primary sources and the monumental work of Shirō Hara as a basis,{{efn|Former member of section 20 of War operations of the Army high command, Hara has made a detailed study of the way military decisions were made, including the Emperor's involvement published in five volumes in 1973–74 under the title ''Daihon'ei senshi; Daitōa Sensō kaisen gaishi; Kaisen ni itaru seisentyaku shidō'' (Imperial Headquarters war history; General history of beginning hostilities in the Greater East Asia War; Leadership and political strategy with respect to the beginning of hostilities).}} Fujiwara<ref>{{cite book |last=Fujiwara |first=Akira |title=Shōwa Tennō no Jū-go Nen Sensō (The Shōwa Emperor fifteen years war) |year=1991}}</ref> and Wetzler{{sfn|Wetzler|1998}} have produced evidence suggesting that the Emperor actively participated in making political and military decisions and was neither bellicose nor a pacifist but an opportunist who governed in a pluralistic decision-making process. Historian Peter Wetzler states that the emperor was thoroughly informed of military matters, and comensurate with his position and Japanese methods of forming policies, he participated in making political and military decisions as the constitutional emperor of Imperial Japan and head of the imperial house.{{sfn|Wetzler|1998|p=32}} For his part, American historian [[Herbert P. Bix]] maintains that Emperor Hirohito worked through intermediaries to exercise a great deal of control over the military and might have been the prime mover behind most of Japan's military aggression during the Shōwa era.<ref name="ReferenceA" />{{page needed|date=June 2022}}

The view promoted by the Imperial Palace and American occupation forces immediately after World War II portrayed Emperor Hirohito as a purely ceremonial figure who behaved strictly according to protocol while remaining at a distance from the decision-making processes. This view was endorsed by Prime Minister [[Noboru Takeshita]] in a speech on the day of Hirohito's death in which Takeshita asserted that the war "had broken out against [Hirohito's] wishes." Takeshita's statement provoked outrage in nations in East Asia and Commonwealth nations such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref name="Chira1989">{{cite news |last=Chira |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Chira |date=22 January 1989 |title=Post-Hirohito, Japan Debates His War Role |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/22/world/post-hirohito-japan-debates-his-war-role.html |access-date=10 April 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> According to historian Fujiwara, "The thesis that the Emperor, as an organ of responsibility, could not reverse cabinet decision is a [[myth]] fabricated after the war."<ref>''Shōwa tennō no Jū-go nen sensō'', Aoki Shoten, 1991, p. 122.</ref>

According to Yinan He, associate professor of international relations at [[Lehigh University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Yinan He &#124; International Relations |url=https://ir.cas.lehigh.edu/content/yinan-he |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705023707/https://ir.cas.lehigh.edu/content/yinan-he |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Allies of World War II|allied countries]] and Japanese leftists demanded the emperor to abdicate and be tried as a war criminal.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> However, conservative Japanese elites concocted [[jingoism|jingoistic]] myths that exonerated the nation's ruling class and downplayed Japan's wartime culpability.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> Such revisionist campaigns depicted the Emperor as a peace-seeking diplomat, while blaming the militarists for hijacking the government and leading the country into a disastrous war.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> This narrative sought to exonerate the Emperor by shifting responsibility onto a small group of military leaders.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> Furthermore, numerous Japanese conservative elites lobbied the United States to spare the emperor from war crimes investigations and advocated instead for the prosecution of General Hideki Tojo, who held office as prime minister for most of the Pacific War.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> This narrative also narrowly focuses on the U.S.–Japan conflict, completely ignores the wars Japan waged in Asia, and disregards the atrocities committed by Japanese troops during the war.<ref name="Yinan-He" /> Japanese elites created the narrative in an attempt to avoid tarnishing the national image and regain the international acceptance of the country.<ref name="Yinan-He" />

{{Wikidata fallback link|Q11604570}} said that post-war Japanese public opinion supporting protection of the Emperor was influenced by United States propaganda promoting the view that the Emperor together with the Japanese people had been fooled by the military.<ref>{{cite web |last=Awaya |first=Kentarō |others=Timothy Amos trans. |title=The Tokyo Tribunal, War Responsibility and the Japanese People |url=http://www.japanfocus.org/-Awaya-Kentaro/2061 |access-date=10 April 2009 |work=Japan Focus |date=16 February 2006 |publisher=The Asia-Pacific Journal}}</ref>

In the years immediately after Hirohito's death, scholars who spoke out against the emperor were threatened and attacked by right-wing extremists. [[Susan Chira]] reported, "Scholars who have spoken out against the late Emperor have received threatening phone calls from Japan's extremist right wing."<ref name="Chira1989" /> One example of actual violence occurred in 1990 when the mayor of Nagasaki, [[Hitoshi Motoshima]], was shot and critically wounded by a member of the ultranationalist group, [[Seikijuku]]. A year before, in 1989, Motoshima had broken what was characterized as "one of [Japan's] most sensitive taboos" by asserting that Emperor Hirohito bore responsibility for World War II.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sanger |first=David |date=19 January 1990 |title=Mayor Who Faulted Hirohito Is Shot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/19/world/mayor-who-faulted-hirohito-is-shot.html?sec=&spon= |access-date=10 April 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Regarding Hirohito's exemption from trial before the [[International Military Tribunal of the Far East]], opinions were not unanimous. Sir [[William Webb (judge)|William Webb]], the president of the tribunal, declared: "This immunity of the Emperor is contrasted with the part he played in launching the war in the Pacific, is, I think, a matter which the tribunal should take into consideration in imposing the sentences."<ref>{{cite book |last=Fleury |first=Jean Sénat |title=Hirohito: Guilty or Innocent |year=2019}} Prologue, p. xxvi.</ref> Likewise, the French judge, [[Henri Bernard (magistrate)|Henri Bernard]], wrote about Hirohito's accountability that the declaration of war by Japan "had a principal author who escaped all prosecution and of whom in any case the present defendants could only be considered accomplices."<ref>{{cite book |last=Pike |first=Francis |title=Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941–1945 |year=2015}}, p. 120.</ref>

An account from the Vice Interior Minister in 1941, Michio Yuzawa, asserts that Hirohito was "at ease" with the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] "once he had made a decision."<ref name="Yuzawa-memo">{{cite journal |last=Yamaguchi |first=Mari |date=27 July 2018 |title=Newly released 1941 memo says Emperor Hirohito 'at ease' with attack on Pearl Harbor |url=https://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/07/27/breaking-news/newly-released-1941-memo-says-emperor-hirohito-at-ease-with-attack-on-pearl-harbor/ |journal=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |access-date=26 February 2020}}</ref>

Since his death in 1989, historians have discovered evidence that prove Hirohito's culpability for the war, and that he was not a passive figurehead manipulated by those around him.<ref name="Yinan-He" />

==== Imperial Household sources ====

===== Hirohito's monologue =====
In December 1990, the [[Bungeishunjū]] published the Showa tenno dokuhaku roku (Dokuhaku roku), which recorded conversations Hirohito held with five Imperial Household Ministry officials between March and April 1946, containing twenty-four sections.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=5}} The Dokuhaku roku recorded Hirohito speaking retroactively on topics arranged chronologically from 1919 to 1946, right before the [[Tokyo War Crimes Trials]].{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=5}}

In Hirohito's monologue: <blockquote>It doesn't matter much if an incident occurs in Manchuria, as it is rural; however, if something were to happen in the Tientsin-Peking area, Anglo-American intervention would likely worsen and could lead to a clash.<ref name="Bix 1992 343–344">{{cite journal |last=Bix |first=Herbert |title=The Showa Emperor's "Monologue" and the Problem of War Responsibility |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/132824 |date=1992 |issue=2 |journal=The Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=18 |pages=343–344|doi=10.2307/132824 |jstor=132824 |url-access=subscription }}</ref></blockquote>

While he could justify the aggression of his military in China's northeastern provinces, he lacked confidence in Japan's capacity to win a war against the United States and Britain. He was also more aware than his military commanders of Japan's vulnerability to an economic blockade by Western powers.<ref name="Bix 1992 343–344"/>

Japan signed the [[Tripartite Pact]] in 1940 and another agreement in December 1941 that forbade Japan from signing a separate peace treaty with the United States.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} In the Dokuhaku roku, Hirohito said:

<blockquote>(In 1941,) we thought we could achieve a draw with the US, or at best win by a six to four margin; but total victory was nearly impossible ... When the war actually began, however, we gained a miraculous victory at Pearl Harbor and our invasions of Malaya and Burma succeeded far quicker than expected. So, if not for this (agreement), we might have achieved peace when we were in an advantageous position.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}}</blockquote>

The passage in the Dokuhaku roku refutes the theory that Hirohito wanted an early conclusion to the war owing to his value for peace. Instead, it provides evidence that he desired its end because of Japan's early military victories in Pearl Harbor and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}}

In September 1944, Prime Minister [[Kuniaki Koiso]] proposed that a settlement and concessions, such as the return of Hong Kong, should be given to [[Chiang Kai-shek]], so that Japanese troops in China could be diverted to the [[Pacific War]].{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=15-16}} Hirohito rejected the proposal and did not want to give concessions to China because he feared it would signal Japanese weakness, create defeatism at home, and trigger independence movements in occupied countries.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=16}}

As the war shifted unfavorably for Japan, his sentiments were recorded in the Dokuhaku roku as follows:
<blockquote> I hoped to give the enemy one good bashing somewhere, and then seize a chance for peace. Yet I didn't want to ask for peace before Germany did because then we would lose trust in the international community for having violated that corollary agreement.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=18}}</blockquote>

As the war front progressed northward, Hirohito persistently hoped for the Japanese military to deliver a "good bashing" at some point during the war, which meant securing a decisive victory and then leveraging that success to negotiate the most favorable terms possible for Japan.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-19}} In the autumn of 1944, he hoped for a victory at [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], but Japan suffered defeat.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} On 14 February 1945, [[Fumimaro Konoe]] wrote a proposal to Hirohito, urging him to quell extremist elements within the military and end the war.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} Konoe argued that although surrendering to America might preserve imperial rule, it would not survive a communist revolution he believed was imminent.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} Hirohito was troubled by the ambiguity surrounding America's commitment to upholding imperial rule.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} He considered the advice of Army Chief of Staff [[Yoshijirō Umezu]], who advocated for continuing the fight to the bitter end, believing that the Americans could be lured into a trap on Taiwan, where they could be defeated.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} However, the Americans avoided Taiwan.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}} Despite the defeat at the [[Battle of Okinawa]] and acknowledging Japan's imminent unconditional surrender following this defeat, Hirohito persisted in seeking another battlefield where a "good bashing" could be achieved, considering locations such as [[Yunnan]] or [[British rule in Burma|Burma]].{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=17-18}}

In August 1945, Hirohito agreed to the [[Potsdam Declaration]] because he thought that the American occupation of Japan would uphold imperial rule in Japan.{{sfn|Wakabayashi|1991|pp=5}}

===== Shinobu Kobayashi's diary =====
Shinobu Kobayashi was the Emperor's chamberlain from April 1974 until June 2000. Kobayashi kept a diary with near-daily remarks of Hirohito for 26 years. It was made public on Wednesday 22 August 2018.<ref name="Kobayashi-diary">{{cite web |date=23 August 2018 |title=Diary tells of Emperor Hirohito's anguish in final years over blame for war |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/23/national/history/diary-tells-emperor-hirohitos-anguish-final-years-blame-war/#.XV35d9LLfK4}}</ref> According to Takahisa Furukawa, a professor of modern Japanese history at Nihon University, the diary reveals that the emperor "gravely took responsibility for the war for a long time, and as he got older, that feeling became stronger."{{sfn|Rich|2018}}

Jennifer Lind, associate professor of government at [[Dartmouth College]] and a specialist in Japanese war memory said:

{{blockquote|"Over the years, these different pieces of evidence have trickled out and historians have amassed this picture of culpability and how he was reflecting on that. This is another piece of the puzzle that very much confirms that the picture that was taking place before, which is that he was extremely culpable, and after the war he was devastated about this."{{sfn|Rich|2018}}}}

An entry dated 27 May 1980 said the Emperor wanted to express his regret about the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese war]] to former Chinese Premier [[Hua Guofeng]] who visited at the time, but was stopped by senior members of the [[Imperial Household Agency]] owing to fear of backlash from far right groups.<ref name="Kobayashi-diary" />

An entry dated 7 April 1987 said the Emperor was haunted by discussions of his wartime responsibility and, as a result, was losing his will to live.<ref name="Kobayashi-diary" />

===== Michiji Tajima's notes =====
According to notebooks by Michiji Tajima, a top Imperial Household Agency official who took office after the war, Emperor Hirohito privately expressed regret about the atrocities that were committed by Japanese troops during the [[Nanjing Massacre]].<ref name="Tajima-notes">{{cite journal |last=Landers |first=Peter |date=19 August 2019 |title=Japan's Wartime Emperor Showed Remorse Over Nanjing Massacre |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-wartime-emperor-showed-remorse-over-nanjing-massacre-11566210385 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> In addition to feeling remorseful about his own role in the war, he "fell short by allowing radical elements of the military to drive the conduct of the war."<ref name="Tajima-notes" />

===== Saburō Hyakutake's diary =====
In September 2021, 25 diaries, pocket notebooks and memos by [[Saburō Hyakutake]] (Emperor Hirohito's Grand Chamberlain from 1936 to 1944) deposited by his relatives to the library of the University of Tokyo's graduate schools for law and politics became available to the public.<ref name="Hyakutake-diary">{{cite news |last=Kitano |first=Ryuichi |date=6 December 2021 |title=Diary: Hirohito prepared for U.S. war before Pearl Harbor attack |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14496398 |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=The Asahi Shimbun}}</ref>

Hyakutake's diary quotes some of Hirohito's ministers and advisers as being worried that the Emperor was getting ahead of them in terms of battle preparations.

Thus, Hyakutake quotes Tsuneo Matsudaira, the Imperial Household Minister, saying:

{{blockquote|"The Emperor appears to have been prepared for war in the face of the tense times." (13 October 1941)<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}

Likewise, Koichi Kido, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, is quoted as saying:

{{blockquote|"I occasionally have to try to stop him from going too far." (13 October 1941)<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}
{{blockquote|"The Emperor's resolve appears to be going too far." (20 November 1941)<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}
{{blockquote|"I requested the Emperor to say things to give the impression that Japan will exhaust all measures to pursue peace when the Foreign Minister is present." (20 November 1941)<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}

Seiichi Chadani, professor of modern Japanese history with Shigakukan University who has studied Hirohito's actions before and during the war said on the discovery of Hyakutake's diary:

{{blockquote|"The archives available so far, including his biography compiled by the Imperial Household Agency, contained no detailed descriptions that his aides expressed concerns about Hirohito leaning toward Japan's entry into the war."<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}
{{blockquote|"(Hyakutake's diary) is a significant record penned by one of the close aides to the Emperor documenting the process of how Japan's leaders led to the war."<ref name="Hyakutake-diary"/>}}

====Vice Interior Minister Yuzawa's account on Hirohito's role in Pearl Harbor raid====
In late July 2018, the bookseller Takeo Hatano, an acquaintance of the descendants of [[Michio Yuzawa]] (Japanese Vice Interior Minister in 1941), released to Japan's ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'' newspaper a memo by Yuzawa that Hatano had kept for nine years since he received it from Yuzawa's family. The bookseller said: "It took me nine years to come forward, as I was afraid of a backlash. But now I hope the memo would help us figure out what really happened during the war, in which 3.1 million people were killed."<ref name="Yuzawa-memo" />

Takahisa Furukawa, expert on wartime history from Nihon University, confirmed the authenticity of the memo, calling it "the first look at the thinking of Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister [[Hideki Tojo]] on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor."<ref name="Yuzawa-memo" />

In this document, Yuzawa details a conversation he had with Tojo a few hours before the attack. The Vice Minister quotes Tojo saying:

{{blockquote|"The Emperor seemed at ease and unshakable once he had made a decision."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}
{{blockquote|"If His Majesty had any regret over negotiations with Britain and the U.S., he would have looked somewhat grim. There was no such indication, which must be a result of his determination. I'm completely relieved. Given the current conditions, I could say we have practically won already."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}

Historian Furukawa concluded from Yuzawa's memo:

{{blockquote|"Tojo is a bureaucrat who was incapable of making own decisions, so he turned to the Emperor as his supervisor. That's why he had to report everything for the Emperor to decide. If the Emperor didn't say no, then he would proceed."<ref name= "Yuzawa-memo"/>}}

====Chief Military Aide-de-Camp Takeji Nara's diary====

The diary of Japanese general [[Takeji Nara]] documented Nara's interactions with the emperor and described Hirohito's reactions to Japan's role in instigating the [[Mukden Incident]].<ref name="Bix 1992 342–344">{{cite journal |last=Bix |first=Herbert P. |title=The Showa Emperor's |journal=The Journal of Japanese Studies |publisher=The Society for Japanese Studies |volume=18 |issue=2 |year=1992 |issn=0095-6848 |jstor=132824 |pages=342–344}}</ref> Nara's diary entries show that Hirohito was well aware of the Mukden Incident and acknowledged that Japanese General [[Kanji Ishiwara]] was its instigator. However, once the emperor justified that the army's actions in Manchuria as necessary, he gradually adapted to the new circumstances and showed little desire to punish those responsible.<ref name="Bix 1992 342–344"/>

=== Evidence against wartime culpability ===

==== British government assessment of Hirohito ====
The declassified January 1989 British government assessment of Hirohito describes him as "too weak to alter the course of events" and Hirohito was "powerless" and comparisons with Hitler are "ridiculously wide off the mark." Hirohito's power was limited by ministers and the military and if he asserted his views too much he would have been replaced by another member of the royal family.<ref name="whitehead-assessment" />

The dispatch by John Whitehead, former ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan, to Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe was declassified on Thursday 20 July 2017 at the [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives]] in London. The letter was written shortly after Hirohito's death. Whitehead wrote that Hirohito was  "uneasy with Japan's drift to war in the 1930s and 1940s but was too weak to alter the course of events." Whitehead also wrote:<ref name="whitehead-assessment" />

{{blockquote|"By personality and temperament, Hirohito was ill-suited to the role assigned to him by destiny. The successors of the men who had led the Meiji Restoration yearned for a charismatic warrior king. Instead, they were given an introspective prince who grew up to be more at home in the science laboratory than on the military parade ground. But in his early years, every effort was made to cast him in a different mould."<ref name="whitehead-assessment"/>}}
{{blockquote|"A man of stronger personality than Hirohito might have tried more strenuously to check the growing influence of the military in Japanese politics and the drift of Japan toward war with the western powers." "The contemporary diary evidence suggests that Hirohito was uncomfortable with the direction of Japanese policy." "The consensus of those who have studied the documents of the period is that Hirohito was consistent in attempting to use his personal influence to induce caution and to moderate and even obstruct the growing impetus toward war."<ref name="whitehead-assessment">{{cite web |publisher=Kyodo News |date=20 July 2017 |title=Hirohito "uncomfortable" with war but powerless to stop |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/07/758307910564-hirohito-uncomfortable-with-military-aggression-but-powerless-to-change.html |format=website |access-date=23 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214173058/https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/07/758307910564-hirohito-uncomfortable-with-military-aggression-but-powerless-to-change.html |archive-date=14 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Whitehead concludes that ultimately Hirohito was "powerless" and comparisons with Hitler are "ridiculously wide off the mark." If Hirohito acted too insistently with his views he could have been isolated or replaced with a more pliant member of the royal family. The pre-war [[Meiji Constitution]] defined Hirohito as "sacred" and all-powerful, but according to Whitehead, Hirohito's power was limited by ministers and the military. Whitehead explained after World War II that Hirohito's humility was fundamental for the Japanese people to accept the new 1947 constitution and allied occupation.<ref name="whitehead-assessment" />

=== Hirohito's statements ===
;8 September 1975 TV interview with [[NBC]], USA<ref>[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 209</ref>
: '''Reporter:''' "How far has your Majesty been involved in Japan's decision to end the war in 1945? What was the motivation for your launch?"
: '''Emperor:''' "Originally, this should be done by the Cabinet. I heard the results, but at the last [[Gozen Kaigi|meeting]] I asked for a decision. I decided to end the war on my own. (...) I thought that the continuation of the war would only bring more misery to the people."
;Interview with ''[[Newsweek]]'', USA, 20 September 1975<ref>[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 212</ref>
: '''Reporter:''' "(Abbreviation) How do you answer those who claim that your Majesty was also involved in the decision-making process that led Japan to start the war?"
: '''Emperor:''' "(Omission) At the start of the war, a cabinet decision was made, and I could not reverse that decision. We believe this is consistent with the provisions of the Imperial Constitution."
;22 September 1975 – Press conference with Foreign Correspondents<ref>[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 216</ref>
: '''Reporter:''' "How long before the attack on Pearl Harbor did your Majesty know about the attack plan? And did you approve the plan?"
: '''Emperor:''' "It is true that I had received information on military operations in advance. However, I only received those reports after the military commanders made detailed decisions. Regarding issues of political character and military command, I believe that I acted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution."
;On 31 October 1975, a press conference was held immediately after returning to Japan after visiting the United States.<ref>[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} pp. 226–227</ref><ref>[[#昭和天皇語録 2004|昭和天皇語録 2004]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#昭和天皇語録 2004|reason= }} p. 332</ref>
: '''Question:''' "Your majesty, at your [[White House]] banquet you said, 'I deeply deplore that unfortunate war.' (See also {{ill|Emperor Shōwa's Theory of War Responsibility|ja|昭和天皇の戦争責任論|vertical-align=sup}}.) Does your majesty feel responsibility for the war itself, including the opening of hostilities? Also, what does your majesty think about so-called war responsibility?" ([[The Times]] reporter)
: '''Emperor:'''  "I can't answer that kind of question because I haven't thoroughly studied the literature in this field, and so don't really appreciate the nuances of your words."
: '''Question:''' "How did you understand that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of the war?" ([[RCC Broadcasting]] Reporter)
: '''Emperor:''' "I am sorry that the atomic bomb was dropped, but because of this war, I feel sorry for the citizens of Hiroshima, but I think it is unavoidable."
;17 April 1981 Press conference with the presidents of the press<ref>[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken link|date=June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Hirohito#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 313</ref>
: '''Reporter:''' "What was the most enjoyable of your memories of eighty years?"
: '''Emperor:''' "Since I saw the constitutional politics of Britain as the {{ill|Crown Prince|ja|皇太子裕仁親王の欧州訪問|vertical-align=sup}}, I felt strongly that I must adhere to the constitutional politics. But I was too particular about it to prevent the war. I made my own decisions twice ([[February 26 Incident]] and the end of World War II)."

== Titles, styles, honours and arms ==

=== Military appointments ===
* Grand Marshal and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Empire of Japan, ''25 December 1926'' – upon ascending the throne<ref>"Chapter V: The Imperial Court – The Imperial House and The Reigning Sovereign", p. 46. ''The Japan-Manchoukuo Year Book 1938'', The Japan-Manchoukuo Year Book Co., Tokyo.</ref>

=== Foreign military appointments ===
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: Honorary [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] in the [[British Army]], ''May 1921''<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32324 |date=13 May 1921 |page=3917 |supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32317 |date=9 May 1921 |page=3737 |supp=y }}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] of the [[Regular Army]] in the [[British Army]], ''June 1930''<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33619 |date=27 June 1930 |page=4028}}</ref>

=== National honours ===
* Founder of the [[Order of Culture]], ''11 February 1937''<ref>{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=James W. |editor-first1=Barry C |editor-last1=Weaver |editor-first2=Michael A. |editor-last2=Quigley |year=2001 |title=Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States |location=San Ramon, California |publisher=Orders and Medals Society of America |isbn=978-1-890974-09-1}}</ref>

=== Foreign honours ===
* {{flag|Germany}}: Grand Cross Special Class of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (GCBVO){{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
* {{flag|Finland}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the White Rose of Finland]], with Collar (1942)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ritarikunnat.fi/index.php/fi/64-ritarikunnat/palkitut/216-suomen-valkoisen-ruusun-ritarikunnan-suurristin-ketjuineen-saajat-ulkomaalaiset |title=Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun Suurristi Ketjuineen |trans-title=Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland with Chain |website=Orders of Finland |language=fi |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref>
* {{flag|Norway}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Olav]] (StkStOO), with Collar (26 September 1922)<ref name="norges1">{{citation |title=Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1930 |trans-title=Norway's State Calendar for the Year 1930 |language=no |year=1930 |pages=995–996 |chapter-url=https://runeberg.org/norkal/1930/0560.html |chapter=Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden |location=Oslo |publisher=Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard) |via=runeberg.org}}</ref>
* {{flag|Sweden}}: Knight of the Royal [[Order of the Seraphim]] (RSerafO), with Collar (8 May 1919)<ref>{{citation |title=Sveriges statskalender |trans-title=Sweden State Calendar |year=1940 |volume=2 |page=7 |url=https://runeberg.org/statskal/1940bih/0007.html |via=runeberg.org |access-date=6 January 2018 |language=sv}}</ref>
* {{flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Elephant]] (RE) (24 January 1923)<ref>{{cite book |first=Jørgen |last=Pedersen |title=Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 |trans-title=Knights of the Order of the Elephant, 1559–2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glw-AQAAIAAJ |year=2009 |publisher=Syddansk Universitetsforlag |language=da |isbn=978-87-7674-434-2 |page=466}}</ref>
* {{flag|Poland}}: Knight of the [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)|Order of the White Eagle]] (1922)<ref>{{cite book |title=Kawalerowie i statuty Orderu Orła Białego 1705–2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Zamek Kroʹlewski |first=Marta |last=Męclewska |page=298 |isbn=978-8-3702-2178-2}}</ref>
* {{flag|Thailand}}:
** Knight of the [[Order of the Rajamitrabhorn]] (KRMBh) (27 May 1963)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2507/D/022/571.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231081513/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2507/D/022/571.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 December 2014 |script-title=th:แจ้งความสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง ถวายเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์แด่สมเด็จพระจักรพรรดิแห่งประเทศญี่ปุ่น |trans-title=A notification from the Office of the Prime Minister regarding the presentation of royal decorations to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan |publisher=www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th |language=th |access-date=31 December 2014}}</ref>
** Knight of the [[Order of the Royal House of Chakri]] (KMChk) (30 January 1925)<ref name="1925AD">{{cite web |date=31 January 1925 |url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2468/D/3343.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223348/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2468/D/3343.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=ส่งเครื่องขัตติยราชอิสริยาภรณ์ไปพระราชทาน |language=th |access-date=8 May 2019 |website=[[Royal Thai Government Gazette]]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Nepal}}: Member of the Most Glorious [[Order of Ojaswi Rajanya]] (19 April 1960)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/1988/153251_JOMSA_Vol39_12_19.pdf |title=NEPAL: Order of Ojaswi Rajanya |date=27 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927164434/http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/1988/153251_JOMSA_Vol39_12_19.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2015}}</ref>
* {{flag|Philippines}}: Grand Collar of the [[Order of Sikatuna]] (28 September 1966)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/ |title=The Order of Sikatuna |newspaper=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=3 December 2016 |archive-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825092055/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Brazil}}: Grand Cross of the National [[Order of the Southern Cross]] (1955)<ref>{{cite web |title=Viagem do Presidente Geisel ao Japão |url=http://www.biblioteca.presidencia.gov.br/publicacoes-oficiais/catalogo/geisel/viagem-do-pr-ao-japao-setembro-1976 |date=September 1976 |access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} [[Italian Royal Family]]: Knight of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]] (31 October 1916)<ref name="dell'interno1920">{{cite book |author=Italy. Ministero dell'interno |title=Calendario generale del regno d'Italia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PR3 |year=1920 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PA58 58]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Italy}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]] (OMRI), with Collar (9 March 1982)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/ricerca/insegna/11 |title=Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana |website=President of the Republic}}</ref>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]]
* {{flag|Malaysia}}: Honorary Recipient of the [[Order of the Crown of the Realm]] (DMN (K)) (1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.istiadat.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1964.pdf |title=Senarai Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1964 |website=www.istiadat.gov.my}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tonga}}: Grand Cross of the [[Royal Order of Pouono]] (KGCCP), with Collar<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gettyimages.co.jp/detail/%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/the-king-of-tonga-taufaahau-tupou-iv-and-queen-halaevalu-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/517264862 |title=Tonga Royalty Posing with Japanese Leaders Pictures &#124; Getty Images |date=6 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006175419/http://www.gettyimages.co.jp/detail/%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/the-king-of-tonga-taufaahau-tupou-iv-and-queen-halaevalu-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/517264862 |archive-date=6 October 2016}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}:
** Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO) (May 1921)
** Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Bath]] (civil division) (GCB) (May 1921)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32318 |date=9 May 1921 |page=3747 |supp=y}}</ref>
** Stranger Knight Companion of the [[Order of the Garter]] (KG) (3 May 1929; revoked in ''1941''; reinstated on 22 May 1971)<ref>{{citation |via=heraldica.org |title=List of the Knights of the Garter |url=https://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm}}</ref>
** Fellow of the [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1971|Royal Society]] (ForMemRS), ''1971''<ref>{{cite journal |last=Corner |first=E.J.H. |author-link=E. J. H. Corner |title=His Majesty Emperor Hirohito of Japan, K. G. 29 April 1901 – 7 January 1989 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |volume=36 |pages=242–272 |year=1990 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1990.0032 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* {{flag|Brunei}}: First Class of the [[Order of the Crown of Brunei]] (SPMB) – ''Dato Seri Paduka''
* {{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]] (6 October 1928)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1928/284/A00218-00218.pdf |title=Boletín Oficial del Estado |access-date=3 December 2016}}</ref><ref>Naval History: [http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/177028x19846/8330/a0.htm Hirohito Showa.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006083138/http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/177028x19846/8330/a0.htm |date=6 October 2021 }}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg}} Spain: Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished [[Order of Charles III]], with Collar, ''4 June 1923''<ref>{{citation |chapter-url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001067117&search=&lang=es |chapter=Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III |title=Guía Oficial de España |date=1930 |access-date=7 June 2020 |page=221 |language=es}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Greek Royal Family]]:
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Redeemer]]
** Grand Cross of the Royal Family [[Order of Saints George and Constantine]], with Collar
* {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}: Collar of the [[Order of the White Lion]], ''1928''<ref>[http://www.vyznamenani.net/?p=1053 "Kolana Řádu Bílého lva aneb hlavy států v řetězech"] (in Czech), ''Czech Medals and Orders Society''. Retrieved 9 August 2018.</ref>
* {{Flagcountry|YUG}}: [[Order of the Yugoslav Great Star]], ''8 April'' ''1968''<ref>{{Cite journal |date=9 April 1968 |title=PREDSJEDNIK TITO U JAPANU |url=https://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/pvpages/pvpages/viewPage/?page=0&displaySizeSelect=1&pv_page_id=110549&autocomplete_text= |journal=Slobodna Dalmacija |issue=7187 |pages=5}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Ethiopian Empire}} [[Solomonic dynasty|Ethiopian Imperial Family]]: Collar of the [[Order of Solomon]]<ref>"[http://www.ethiopiancrown.org/decorations.htm#TheOrderofSolomon The Imperial Orders and Decorations of Ethiopia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226054014/http://www.ethiopiancrown.org/decorations.htm#TheOrderofSolomon |date=26 December 2012}}", ''The Crown Council of Ethiopia''. Retrieved 7 September 2020.</ref>
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Russian Empire]]: Knight of the [[Order of St. Andrew|Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-called]], ''September 1916''<ref>{{cite book |author=Sergey Semenovich Levin |title=Russian Imperial Orders of Chivalry|year=2003 |chapter=Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-called (1699–1917). Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine (1714–1917) |publisher=State History Museum|publication-place=Moscow}}</ref>

==Issue==
Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun had seven children (two sons and five daughters).

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Name
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Birth
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Death
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Marriage
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Children
|-
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Spouse
|-
! scope="row" | [[Shigeko Higashikuni]]<br>(Shigeko, Princess Teru) 
|9 December 1925
|23 July 1961
|10 October 1943 
|[[Morihiro Higashikuni|Prince Morihiro Higashikuni]]
|{{ubli|Prince Nobuhiko Higashikuni|Princess Fumiko Higashikuni|Naohiko Higashikuni|Hidehiko Higashikuni|Yūko Higashikuni}}
|-
! scope="row" | [[Sachiko, Princess Hisa]]
| 10 September 1927 
|8 March 1928
|colspan="3" {{N/A|None}}
|-
! scope="row" | [[Kazuko Takatsukasa]]<br>(Kazuko, Princess Taka)
|30 September 1929
|26 May 1989
|20 May 1950
|[[Toshimichi Takatsukasa]]
|Naotake Takatsukasa (adopted)
|-
! scope="row" | [[Atsuko Ikeda]]<br>(Atsuko, Princess Yori)
|{{Birth date and age|1931|3|7|df=yes}}
|
|10 October 1952
|Takamasa Ikeda
|Motohiro Ikeda (adopted)
|-
! scope="row" | [[Akihito, Emperor Emeritus of Japan]]<br />(Akihito, Prince Tsugu)
|{{Birth date and age|1933|12|23|df=yes}}
|
|10 April 1959
|[[Michiko Shōda]]
|{{ubli|[[Naruhito, Emperor of Japan]]|[[Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan]]|[[Sayako Kuroda]]}}
|-
! scope="row" | [[Masahito, Prince Hitachi]]<br />(Masahito, Prince Yoshi)
|{{Birth date and age|1935|11|28|df=yes}}
|
|30 September 1964
|[[Hanako Tsugaru]]
|{{N/A|None}}
|-
! scope="row" | [[Takako Shimazu]]<br>(Takako, Princess Suga)
|{{Birth date and age|1939|3|2|df=yes}}
|
|10 March 1960
|{{ill|Hisanaga Shimazu|ja|島津久永|vertical-align=sup}}
|Yoshihisa Shimazu
|}

==Scientific publications==
* (1967) ''A review of the hydroids of the family Clathrozonidae with description of a new genus and species from Japan.''<ref name="hathitrust(1)">{{cite book |title=A review of the hydroids of the family Clathrozonidae with description of a new genus and species from Japan |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007156285 |publisher=Hathi Trust Digital Library |access-date=25 December 2016 |year=1967}}</ref>
* (1969) ''Some hydroids from the Amakusa Islands.''<ref name="hathitrust(2)">{{cite book |title=Some hydroids from the Amakusa Islands |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007156260 |publisher=Hathi Trust Digital Library |access-date=25 December 2016 |year=1969}}</ref>
* (1971) ''Additional notes on Clathrozoon wilsoni Spencer.''<ref name="hathitrust(3)">{{cite book |title=Additional notes on Clathrozoon wilsoni Spencer / by Hirohito, Emperor of Japan |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007158474 |publisher=Hathi Trust Digital Library |access-date=25 December 2016 |year=1971}}</ref>
* (1974) ''Some hydrozoans of the Bonin Islands.''<ref name="stanford(4)">{{cite book |title=Some hydrozoans of the Bonin Islands |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/819134 |publisher=Stanford University Libraries |date=25 February 1974}}</ref>
* (1977) ''Five hydroid species from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea.''<ref name="hathitrust(5)">{{cite book |title=Five hydroid species from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea / by Hirohito |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008335470 |publisher=Hathi Trust Digital Library |access-date=25 December 2016 |year=1977}}</ref>
* (1983) ''Hydroids from Izu Oshima and Nijima.''<ref name="worldcat(6)">{{cite book |title=Hydroids from Izu Ôshima and Niijima |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |oclc=647103657}}</ref>
* (1984) ''A new hydroid Hydractinia bayeri n. sp. (family Hydractiniidae) from the Bay of Panama.''<ref name="stanford(7)">{{cite book |title=A new hydroid Hydractinia bayeri n.sp. (family Hydractiniidae) from the Bay of Panama |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1547378 |publisher=Stanford University Libraries |access-date=25 December 2016 |date=25 February 1984}}</ref>
* (1988) ''The hydroids of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.''<ref name="NLA(8)">{{cite book |title=The Hydroids of Sagami Bay / by Hirohito, Emperor of Japan |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6611702? |publisher=National Library of Australia |access-date=25 December 2016 |year=1988}}</ref>
* (1995) ''The hydroids of Sagami Bay II.'' (posthumous)<ref name="worldcat(9)">{{cite book |title=The hydroids of Sagami Bay. II, Thecata |publisher=Biological Laboratory Imperial Household |oclc=154263373}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Controversies regarding the role of the Emperor of Japan]]
* [[Postwar Japan]]
* [[Japanese nationalism]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Books and academic journals===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?159251-1/hirohito-making-modern-japan Presentation by Herbert Bix on ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'', 15 September 2000]. | video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?165148-1/hirohito-making-modern-japan ''Booknotes'' interview with Herbert Bix on ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'', 2 September 2001]. [[C-SPAN]].| video3=[https://www.c-span.org/video/?122238-1/embracing-defeat-japan-wake-world-war-ii Presentation by John Dower on ''Embracing Defeat'', 1 April 1999]. [[C-SPAN]]| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?155311-1/embracing-defeat ''Booknotes'' interview with John Dower on ''Embracing Defeat'', 26 March 2000]. [[C-SPAN]].}}
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Behr |first=Edward |year=1989 |title=Hirohito: Behind the Myth |location=New York |publisher=Villard |isbn=978-0-3945-8072-2}} A controversial book that posited Hirohito as a more active protagonist of World War II than publicly portrayed; it contributed to the re-appraisal of his role.
* {{cite book |last=Bix |first=Herbert P. |author-link=Herbert Bix |title=Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan |year=2000 |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-019314-0 |title-link=Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan}} Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.<!-- Non-template Bix sfns are likely to this edition -->
** {{cite book |last=Bix |first=Herbert P. |title=Hirohito and the making of modern Japan |year=2001 |publisher=Perennial |location=New York |isbn=978-0-0609-3130-8 |edition=1st Perennial |type=Book |url=https://archive.org/details/hirohitomakingof00herb}}
** {{cite book |last=Bix |first=Herbert |title=Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan |publisher=Harper Perennial |date=2016}}
* {{cite book |last=Dower |first=John W. |author-link=John W. Dower |title=Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II |url=https://archive.org/details/embracingdefeatj00dowe |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-32027-5}} awarded Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.
* {{cite book |last=Drea |first=Edward J. |title=In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army |year=1998 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-1708-9 |chapter=Chasing a Decisive Victory: Emperor Hirohito and Japan's War with the West (1941–1945) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112141517/https://www.questia.com/library/91972030/in-the-service-of-the-emperor-essays-on-the-imperial |archive-date=12 November 2018 |chapter-url=https://www.questia.com/library/91972030/in-the-service-of-the-emperor-essays-on-the-imperial |via=Archived copy}}
* Fujiwara, Akira, ''Shōwa Tennō no Jū-go Nen Sensō (Shōwa Emperor's Fifteen-year War)'', Aoki Shoten, 1991. {{ISBN|4-250-91043-1}} (based on the primary sources)
* {{cite book |last=Hidenari |first=Terasaki |title=Shōwa tennō dokuhakuroku |trans-title=Emperor Showa's Monologue |publisher=Bungei Shūnjusha |year=1991 |language=ja}}
* {{cite book |author=Edwin Palmer Hoyt |title=Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man |year=1992 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0-275-94069-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/hirohitoemperora00hoyt}}
* {{cite book |author=Toshiaki Kawahara |title=Hirohito and His Times: A Japanese Perspective |year=1990 |publisher=Kodansha America |isbn=978-0-87011-979-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hirohitohistimes0000kawa}}
* Laquerre, Paul-Yanic ''Showa: Chronicles of a Fallen God'', {{ISBN|978-1729431597}} {{ASIN|B00H6W4TYI}}
* Mosley, Leonard ''Hirohito, Emperor of Japan'', Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1966. {{ISBN|1-111-75539-6|1-199-99760-9}}, The first full-length biography, it gives his basic story.
* Pike, Francis. ''Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941–1945'' (2016) 1208pp.
* {{cite book |last=Ponsonby-Fane |first=Richard Arthur Brabazon |title=The Imperial House of Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLAeAAAAMAAJ |year=1959 |publisher=Ponsonby Memorial Society}}
* {{cite journal |last=Wakabayashi |first=Bob Tadashi |title=Emperor Hirohito on Localized Aggression in China |url=http://chinajapan.org/articles/04.1/04.1wakabayashi4-27.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Sino-Japanese Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=4–27 |year=1991 |access-date=3 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721021647/http://chinajapan.org/articles/04.1/04.1wakabayashi4-27.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011}}
* {{cite book |last=Wetzler |first=Peter |title=Hirohito and War: Imperial Tradition and Military Decision Making in Prewar Japan |year=1998 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1925-5}}
{{refend}}

===News articles===
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite news |last=Rich |first=Motoko |title=Aide's Diary Suggests Hirohito Agonized over His War Responsibility |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/world/asia/japan-hirohito-war-diary.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 August 2018}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Brands, Hal. "The Emperor's New Clothes: American Views of Hirohito after World War II." ''Historian'' 68#1 pp.&nbsp;1–28. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24453490 online]
* Wilson, Sandra. "Enthroning Hirohito: Culture and Nation in 1920s Japan" ''Journal of Japanese Studies'' 37#2 (2011), pp.&nbsp;289–323. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41337678 online]

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Emperor Shōwa}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{wikispecies-inline|Hirohito}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161018195813/http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/history/history11.html Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun] at the Imperial Household Agency website (archived)
* [http://www.scarsdalemura-kara.com/emperor.htm Reflections on Emperor Hirohito's death]
* {{IMDb name|0386375}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/007894}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Imperial House of Japan]]|29 April|1901|7 January|1989}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Emperor Taishō|Taishō]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Emperor of Japan]]|years=25 December 1926 – 7 January 1989}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Akihito]]}}
{{S-end}}

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