What do you think of him.
2006-11-13 00:05:30 · 6 answers · asked by yahooanswers 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Emporer of Japan, Hirohito died on January 7, 1989, and was buried in the Imperial mausoleum in Hachioji February 24, 1989, after the state funeral.
On September 22, 1987, Hirohito underwent surgery on his pancreas after having digestive problems for several months. This was the very first time a Japanese Emperor underwent surgery. The doctors discovered that he had duodenal cancer, but in accordance with Japanese tradition, they did not tell him. Hirohito seemed to be recovering well for several months after his surgery. About a year later, however, on September 19, 1988, he collapsed in his palace, and his health worsened over the next several months as he suffered from continuous internal bleeding. On January 7, 1989, at 6:33 AM, Hirohito died. At 7:55 AM, the grand steward of Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Shoichi Fujimori, officially announced the Emperor's death, and revealed details about his cancer for the first time. Upon his death, he was renamed Emperor Showa (Shōwa Tennō), after the era during which he ruled. His posthumous name was determined on January 13 and formally released on January 31 by Japanese prime minister. (From January 7 until January 31, the formal appellation of Hirohito was "Taikō Tennō(大行天皇)", which means the departed emperor.)
On February 24, Emperor Showa's state funeral was held, and unlike that of his predecessor, it was formal but not done in a strictly Shinto manner. A large number of world leaders attended it, including U.S. President George H.W. Bush. The general feeling of public opinion throughout the world at this time was that Emperor Showa's regal presence on the throne had greatly helped Japan to regain economic and political stability during the postwar era. He is buried in the Imperial mausoleum in Hachioji, alongside other past emperors-.
2006-11-13 00:18:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hirohito died on January 7th 1989 and was buried in the Imperial mausoleum at Hachioji in western Tokyo.
It is difficult to determine if Hirohito really had anything to do with the war. He very secluded and there was a rising, powerful military faction in Japan led by Tojo. Most felt that the emperor was powerless to prevent the war and that he was just a figure head. Historically it is believed that Hirohito was upset that his government did not implement diplomatic meetings with the west to try and win Japan's objectives, yet there are some historians who say that this simply isn't true and that he was very satisfied that military hostilities would be commenced in a short time against some of the western powers including the United States, if Japan's demands were not given in to. There is even a story that the emperor became very angry at a meeting with military heads and became red in the face and shook his fist saying that a peaceful settlement was to be sought, not a military action.
2006-11-13 08:19:59 · answer #2 · answered by the_lipsiot 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Japan's Emperor Hirohito (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, is buried in the Imperial Mausoleum in Hachioji, alongside other past emperors.
2006-11-13 08:16:25 · answer #3 · answered by IndyaBelle 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He calls himself emperor of Japan like all japanese monarches. If i am not wrong, he is now buried in hell for his part in WW2 and the blood on his hands. The blood shall forever haunt his name.
2006-11-13 11:02:32 · answer #4 · answered by calvin o 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Emperor not king Hirohito is buried in Hachijo-ji.
His involvment in the going on of WWII is still controversial. Some think him a key player. Others that he was simply along for the ride as a puppet figure head. And a few think he was the driving force if not mastermind.
Having researched the history of the Imperial Family I tend to beleive him cooperating in a manner in which he really didn't have a choice. If he went against his ministers, I'm sure he would have been forced to abidicate for some reason or another.
A little history of the Imperial system:
According to Japanese mythology, the emperor is descended from Jimmu, a semi-divine being whose grandmother was Amaterasu-Omikami, the Sun Goddess. Jimmu reigned in 600 B.C. However, there is little evidence to support this. Most scholars believe the Imperial system developed from the Yamato culture in central Japan around the 3rd century A.D. with heavy Chinese influences.
The emperor was seen as the divine manifested in the flesh; a representative of the gods on earth. To oppose the emperor was to oppose Japan itself. This made it quite risky for any usurpers not of Imperial blood to try and take the throne.
The Soga family in the 7th century were powerful ministers who basically governed the country. However, they pushed too far and it was believed they conspired to take over the Imperial throne itself. This belief gave their enemies just cause in destroying them utterly.
The fate of the Soga made an impression on ambitious men and taught them a valuable lesson -- that in order to effectively rule Japan, one must do it from behind the throne in the emperor's name. In addition, the office of the emperor could be used as a weapon against political enemies. The most dreaded crime a lord could commit was treason against the emperor. Since the emperor was in effect Japan, a clever minister could create enemies of the state by claiming his rivals defied the emperor.
By the 9th century, actual ruling power rested in the hands of the Fujiwara clan while the emperor was regulated to administering to court ceremony. The Fujiwara family rose to power in the aftermath of the destruction of the Soga clan. The Fujiwara ministers often manipulated the succession to the Imperial throne for their own gain, yet always they would claim their actions were in the name of the emperor. One of the most famous and powerful of the Fujiwara clan was Fujiwara-no-Michinaga (966-1027). He married his daughter to the reigning emperor, which produced his own grandson as heir.
Emperors tried to keep some control of state by creating the office of the Cloistered Emperor, in which was an abdicated emperor in the robes of a Buddhist monk. It was often the custom for emperors to abdicate young -- sometimes they were pressured to do so. Ironically, though, an ex-emperor often had more freedom and power than a "ruling" emperor.
Although an emperor theoretically did not have power, succession issues were still a great matter of concern. In the mid-1100s the cloistered emperor made his son abdicate the Imperial Throne in favor of his younger half-brother. When the cloistered emperor died, the ex-emperor made advances to regain the throne. He was able to draw on a lot of support from samurai families. This sparked off the Heiji Rebellion which, while only lasting a day, had major ramifications. The ex-emperor's attempt failed and many of his military supporters were executed. The balance of power shifted amongst the ruling samurai families of the day which eventually led to the Gempei War (1180-1185).
Following the end of Gempei War, the first Shogun government was set up in Kamakura (one hour south of Tokyo). The first shogun, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, was concerned that his eastern warriors would become weak with the luxury of Kyoto and the Imperial Court so he set his capital far from Kyoto. Though power had long been out of Imperial hands, this move made the illusion all the more apparent. Technically, the shogun did everything in the emperor's name, but it was definitely not with the emperor's voluntary say-so.
An attempt was made in 1221 by the reigning Emperor Go-Toba to overthrow the Shogunate government, which itself was now, ironically, controlled by ministers, the Hojo Regents. It failed miserably and the emperor was forced to abdicate and suffer exile.
In the 14th century, Emperor Go-Daigo also attempted to restore Imperial power. After a few initial setbacks, Go-Daigo was eventually able to overthrow the Shogunate government and re-establish the Imperial Court as the governing body of Japan. The Go-Daigo Restoration only lasted a few short years. Samurai, dissatisfied with the rewards for their aid and fed up with haughty tones of court nobles, grumbled incessantly. One powerful ally, Ashikaga Takauji, turned against him and set up his own shogunate dynasty.
Go-Daigo fled to the mountain retreat Yoshino and set up a rival imperial court known as the "Southern Court." For the next half century, Japan had two Imperial courts: one in Kyoto controlled by the Ashikaga Shogunate and the other in Yoshino which was without much authority. Supporters of the two courts fought off and on continuously until close to the end of the 14th century when the last emperor of the Southern Court abandoned Yoshino and submitted to the Imperial Court in Kyoto.
Though the Ashikaga Shogunate deteriorated towards the end of the following century, little attempt was made to restore the Imperial system. Instead Japan plunged into an age of unremitting warfare known as the Sengoku Period (Warring States), in which various warlords schemed and fought to increase their personal territories. The greatest warlords dreamed of uniting Japan under their banner and working in the emperor's names as the previous shoguns and Fujiwara ministers had done before.
Oda Nobunaga was able to realize this dream when he marched into Kyoto in the 1560s. He supported both the powerless emperor and the defunct shogun and worked to enhance their prestige with great building projects. The Ashikaga Shogun, however, rankled by being in the power of a warlord schemed against Oda. Oda eventually turned him out and no shogun was appointed until 1603.
Despite removing the shogun, Oda did not restore the Imperial system of governance. Instead, he ruled pretty much as the shogun's had before him, but he lavished the emperor and his courts with gifts. After his death, one of his generals, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ruled in the similar manner.
In 1600, two years after Hideyoshi died, a great battle was fought at Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated his rivals and was named shogun three years later. His shogunate dynasty lasted until the 1867 when the last shogun stepped down from power.
At long last the emperor was free to govern the country without interference, or so it would seem. Very little had changed, really, since the days of the Fujiwara ministry. Still, it was those around him that implemented policy -- in the emperor's name, of course.
The fanatical devotion to the emperor that led to the atrocities of WWII, banzai death charges, and kamikaze attacks developed partially in the wake of Imperial restoration. Under the new constitution, the emperor was placed above and beyond the law. But it wasn't until Emperor Hirohito took the throne in the 1920s that imperialist propagandists began to make serious efforts to promote the cult of the emperor, particularly in the school system and military training institutions.
Like the Fujiwara ministers from ages past, the position of the emperor was tightly controlled and utilized by others -- in this case the military. The official civil government at that time was little more than a sham. There is still debate today as to whether Hirohito was just a puppet like so many emperors have been in the past in the decision-making process that led to war in Asia and the Pacific, or if he was a key mover in these affairs, or at least an active participant in them.
----so given the long history of manipulating the emperor and his position I think Hirohito had very little to do with the overall originating and implementing of policies
2006-11-13 08:49:33 · answer #5 · answered by samurai_dave 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
in hell.
2006-11-13 23:59:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋