Emperor Hirohito
Hirohito reigned over Japan for sixty-two years, through the invasion of China, the Pacific war and the postwar recovery, and the question of his responsibility has never been settled. Born in 1901 and raised away from his parents in the imperial manner, he was a serious student of marine biology and published on hydrozoans under his own name throughout his life. He toured Europe in 1921 — the first Japanese crown prince to leave the country — and came back admiring the British constitutional monarchy. He became regent that year for his mentally ill father and emperor in 1926, taking the reign name Shōwa, meaning enlightened peace. His constitutional position was that the emperor was sovereign and sacred and that ministers governed in his name, and the convention was that he did not intervene. He broke it twice, decisively: in 1936 he demanded the suppression of a mutiny by young officers who had murdered several ministers in his name, and in August 1945 he broke a deadlocked cabinet to accept surrender, recording a broadcast in court language most listeners struggled to follow. Between those dates he approved the war with China and with the United States, was briefed continuously, and asked pointed questions rather than refusing. MacArthur decided that occupying Japan would be far harder without him and kept him off the trials, and the prosecution shaped its case accordingly. He renounced divinity in 1946 and became a symbol of the state under the new constitution. He died in 1989, and his war diaries continue to appear.
- Lived: 1901 CE – 1989 CE
- Nationality: Japanese
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
