Hirohito; Leader or Bystander

A leader is as strong as his will but in the case of Emperor Hirohito, his will was in places far from military and warfare. As the son of Emperor Taisho and Crown Prince, Hirohito found comforts in the studies of science, mathematics, ethics, geography, and literature often studying in his native Japanese as well as Chinese. It was during his studies that Crown Prince Hirohito first began questioning the validity of an emperor’s divinity. Hirohito’s interests in the sciences had fueled his new belief that the throne was not connected to holiness and despite attempts to be persuaded otherwise

In what was seen as a semi-successful coup de’ tat, the May 15th Incident brought the seriousness of the military’s intentions forward for all to see. A group of young navy and army officers planned to assassinate the lord keeper of the privy seal, the prime minister, and other prominent government figures. The officers stormed Prime Minister Inukai’s residence and fatally shot him. Emperor Hirohito’s anticipation of such an event was evident with the first words uttered from his mouth at the news of the coup. When woken with the news, Hirohito solemnly replied, “So they have finally done it.” The weakness of the emperor was becoming clear as he stated that “It’s all due to a failing in me,” and the military was now seeking to take advantage of it. Fearing that the military would not heed to his nomination for a new war minister, Hirohito kept General Araki in office. Emperor Hirohito knew he was becoming increasingly powerless to stop the army’s attempts to create a fascist empire and the atrocities committed by the military in their campaigns began to rise and Japan ultimately resigned from the League of Nations in 1933.

The following day was a bloody one. Three hundred soldiers stormed into Prime Minister Okada’s home and under a hail of gunfire shot a victim who they thought was Okada. Finance Minister Takahashi was killed while sleeping and former Prime Minister Saito was shot and stabbed over forty times. This coup attempt was thwarted by an unlikely character, the emperor himself. Hirohito’s anger at such a blatant disregard for his will, ordered the rebellion to cease immediately and went so far as to threaten to command the Imperial Guards himself to stop the killing. Hearing that the War Council had met, the rebels had realized that they had lost. In a show of strength, Hirohito refused to concede to any reform demands the rebels requested and took charge after sitting idly by many years before. General Honjo was upset at the command to attack his own comrades in the First Division and pleaded with the Emperor who replied, “If you cannot control your troops you ought to quit.” The troops carried out the emperor’s orders to quell the rebellion on February 29, 1936 and by the afternoon the rebellion was over. With events out of control, the strength of Emperor Hirohito may have come just too late to control his ever rebellious army.

It is interesting to note that when the intentions of the military were war, Emperor Hirohito was often the last to know the full extent of their plans. The tides began to turn against Japan on June 6, 1942 with a devastating loss at the Battle of Midway and Emperor Hirohito was the first to know. The losses were detrimental to the Japanese Navy under the command of Admiral Yamamoto and included the loss of four vital aircraft carriers; Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu. It is argued that Admiral Yamamoto made the mistake of letting his embarrassments with regards to the Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Coral Sea get in the way of his judgment but whatever the case may be, the United States established its naval superiority over Japan. It was Hirohito’s favoritism of the navy that allowed Yamamoto to continue to lose battles and Emperor Hirohito issued statement after statement commending the sailors and demanding answers from the army on the land war.

The advancement of German troops into Poland during 1940 and the subsequent alliance of Italy created a renewed interest in a three-partisan alliance. Under War Minister Hideki Tojo, the alliance gained momentum with both the army and navy but Emperor Hirohito once again voiced his displeasure. Fearing that the alliance would falter at the hands of Germany, Hirohito wanted to wait to see what events unfolded between Germany and Russia. Other cabinet members feared that waiting would cause the offer for an alliance to be withdrawn. Despite Hirohito fearing an American embargo, the Jap

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