Emperor Hirohito (Showa) and Empress Nagako

[BeatrixFan]

Well firstly, Hirohito gave the order for a chemical weapon attack at Changde. These weapons had been pre-tested on British and Dutch PoWs at Kai Islands and the tests were authorized by the Emperor. I can't link you but you can either search the Australian National Archives or go through the war crimes papers which will show that Hirohito authorized most of the war crimes that took place. For example, the massacres of the Chinese in Singapore. Hirohito was of course, granted immunity from prosecution by the Allies but in reality, he should have probably been hanged along with his Generals because they were following his orders.

[susan alicia]

Douglas MacArthur

The americans punished him by humiliating him with this picture with MacArthur. Hanging him would have a wrong effect on the Japanese. It is strange for us to imagine how much he was revered by the Japanese in those days.

[BeatrixFan]

Oh I know and I'm sure hanging Hirohito would have led to riots but then who'd just won the war? I can't help but think that dropping those bombs was a display of control and that the Japanese wouldn't have reacted violently to the hanging of the Emperor with that threat hanging over them. I know to many British PoWs the Imperial Family getting off scot free still hurts - the protests when Emperor Akihito visited Britain for a start. Alot of people still feel that the real culprits were never punished.

[Kasumi]

Hirohito's cigarette box turns up for sale in Cork - The Irish Times - Sat, Jul 23, 2011
AN unusual gift presented to the wife of an American general by the Emperor of Japan after the second World War has unexpectedly turned up at an auction house in West Cork.

[Kasumi]

Biography of Emperor Hirohito by ex-Kyodo News reporter published - The Mainichi Daily News
[...] Over 1,000 pages long, the two-volume "Ningen Showa Tenno" is based on research and interviews with the emperor and other members of the imperial household by Hiroshi Takahashi, who began reporting on imperial affairs in 1974.
[...]
Takahashi covered imperial affairs from 1974 while working for Kyodo and established himself as an expert in the field. Later he became a professor at Shizuoka University of Welfare and sat on a government panel on imperial issues in 2005 to debate whether a woman should be allowed to ascend the throne.
The book not only chronicles the life of the late emperor and the Showa era in which he reigned through 1989, but also discusses various challenges facing the current imperial family.
One of the key issues now being debated in Japan is whether the law should be changed to allow female members of the royal family to maintain their imperial status after marriage to a commoner. The current Imperial House Law stipulates that female members lose their royal status if they wed outside the imperial family.
Concerns have been raised that the number of royal family members could see a sharp decline in the future since a good number of unmarried royals are women. The issue could jeopardize the imperial succession in the event that there is no male heir to mount the throne.
"It might be Emperor Akihito himself who is most worried (about the matter)," Takahashi says in his book.

[Kasumi]

The postcard on the occasion of the Emperor Showa and the Empress Kojun 60th anniversary.

**Pic**

[mjkimura1976]

Thank you for all the pictures of the deceased Emperor and Emperoress. One question, though. I've heard that Emperor Hirohito was a fan of Mickey Mouse and had a Mickey Mouse watch. Is that true?