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Jan 7, 1989 · Japanese television networks began somber news broadcasts soon after the announcement was made that Hirohito had died at 6:33 a.m. (1:33 p.m. Friday PST), replacing regular programming with...
Jan 7, 1989 · Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, Dies. Monarch's Reign Lasted 62 Years. By Margaret Shapiro. January 6, 1989 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Share. Add to your saved stories.
Feb 2, 2014 · Hirohito died of cancer in the Fukiage Palace in Tokyo in January 1989, aged 87, after a reign of 62 years. The state funeral was a careful modernisation and dilution of the traditional Shinto rites.
Feb 24, 1989 · Hirohito died of cancer Jan. 7 at age 87, and for many Japanese his burial today symbolized the end of a tumultuous era.
- Early Years, Family & Regency
- Marriage & Children
- Ascension to The Throne
- Early Reign & Conflict with China
- World War II
- Japan’s Surrender & The Role of Hirohito After The Second World War
- Emperor Hirohito and Post-War Japan
- Was Hirohito Charged For War Crimes?
- Was Emperor Hirohito A Puppet?
- Death & Funeral
Birth and Early Childhood
Hirohito was born in the confines of Tokyo’s “Aoyama Palace” on April 29, 1901. He was the first male son of Crown Prince Yoshihito (who later became Emperor Taisho) and Crown Princess Sadako (who later became Empress Teimei). He was the grandson of the most revered Japanese monarch Emperor Meji and his concubine Yanagihara Naruko. Hirohito was given the title “Prince Michi” during his childhood. According to Japanese custom, members of the imperial family were not nurtured by their parents....
Hirochito’s grandfather – Emperor Meji
The most influential figure of the imperial family throughout Hirohito’s formative years was undoubtedly his grandfather, Emperor Meji. He was Japan’s first monarch and served as the 122nd Emperor of Japan from 1867, when he ascended to the throne as a teenager, until his passing in 1912. The level of modernization and development under Meji’s reign (Meji era) was widely considered the fastest and most impressive in the country’s history.
Hirochito’s Father – Emperor Taisho
Hirohito’s father, Emperor Taisho, ruled Japan from July 30, 1912, until December 26, 1926. He ascended the throne shortly after the commencement of the First World War, and the war could only serve as a temporary diversion from the problems that arose with his reign. Unfortunately, within months of his accession to the throne, he was found to be mentally unstable. At best, Emperor Taisho was an extremely eccentric person; at worst, he was unstable and afflicted by various mental disorders. F...
On January 26, 1924, he wedded his distant cousin Princess Nagako Kuni, who was the first daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni. Their marriage produced five daughters and two sons: Prince Akihito, Shigeko Higashikuni, Prince Masahito Hitachi-nomiya, Princess Sachiko Hisa-nomiya, Atsuko Ikeda, Takako Shimazu, and Kazuko Takatsukasa. Prince Akihito, the...
On December 5, 1926, Emperor Taisho died from heart complications and pneumonia at age 47. Hirochito ascended the throne as the 124th Emperor of Japan on December 25, 1926. According to reports, the Crown Prince was given the succession (senso). They declared the beginning of the “Showa era” (Enlightened Peace) and the end of the “Taisho era.” Foll...
Upon his accession, he was faced with numerous political changes and challenges. Unfortunately, Japan’s accelerated industrialization and expansion resulted in a sizable national debt, and by the 1920s, the nation was struggling economically. The dire economic situation was exacerbated by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. These economic difficult...
Even though Japan’s militarism in eastern Asia had increased since its conquest of Manchuria in 1931, Hirohito and his Empire delayed its entry into the Second World War. After Nazi Germany’s conquest of France in 1940, the Japanese Empire began to drift closer to Italy and the powers of Nazi Germany, signing the “Tripartite Pact” on September 27, ...
After the bombings of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, Hirohito was central to the Empire’s decision-making. The deliberations to surrender moved very slowly, and in fact, it was not fully considered until the US bombed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The Emperor directly intervened and ordered Japan’s formal surrender to the Allies six days after Nagasaki...
As a part of his ceremonial duties, he notably visited Hiroshima in 1947 and made a profound speech there as a symbolic acknowledgment of the events which took place in the city that led to the end of the Second World War. However, Hirohito’s influence on post-war Japan peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. During those decades, he was highly instrumental...
The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal prosecuted Japan’s war criminals after the Second World War. However, Hirohito was not personally accused during the trials, despite being the leader of the Japanese Empire at the time. Instead, 28 of Japan’s top military and political elites were brought to justice by the Allies on the grounds of inciting the Pacific ...
There is no dispute that the renowned leader Emperor Hirohito was never a puppet, even though his role in Japan’s war history is still debatable today as it was in 1945. The notion that he was a puppet stems from the fact that he only escaped severe penalties in the years following the Second World War because the US wanted to maintain stability an...
On September 22, 1987, Hirohito underwent surgery to correct a condition on his pancreas; haven suffered from digestion problems for many months. During the surgery, the doctors diagnosed him with duodenal cancer. He appeared fit and substantially recovered months after the procedure. However, issues related to his health were kept a top secret. Ab...
Aug 7, 2015 · Seventy years ago, on the morning of August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. A short time later, other B-29s began dropping leaflets...
Jan 7, 1989 · MacArthur Saw Unity. In August 1945, at the end of World War II, there were demands in Washington, as well as from the British, the Russians and others, that Hirohito be brought to trial as a...
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