Emperor Hirohito: Bold Leader or War Criminal?

just before yet cracking with today's video I want to say there's obviously going to be a lot of Japanese pronunciation and as always I am doing my best if you'd like to have a go at me anyway do use the comments that's what they're for so Hirohito he was the longest reigning monarch in Japan's history serving his emperor for 63 years vested with supreme power and viewed as a day at ey as people he presided over a nation that unleashed a war savagery that shocked the world his unprecedented radio address to his nation announcing Japanese surrender in World War two startled the people only to be followed with the bombshell that he was not in fact to God but just a fallible man just like the people in this week's by graphics video we go beyond the pomp and the ceremony to discover the man who was Emperor Hirohito [Music] [Music] by the middle of the 19th century the Emperor ship of Japan had become a title in name only the emperor was merely a figurehead with no real say in matters of state that changed with the ascension to the throne of the 120 second Emperor Meiji Meiji embarked upon a series of political reforms that brought about an era of enlightened rule by the time of his grandson the future Emperor Hirohito's birth the cult of the Emperor it was already well established laws had been enacted forbidding any criticism of the Emperor the birth of Emperor Meiji 's first grandson on April the 29th 1901 was a time of rejoicing throughout the empire the infant was given the title Prince Michie he was named Hirohito which comes from a Chinese saying that roughly translates to when society is wealthy the people are content ariados father was the 21 year old Crown Prince Yoshihito he was slightly built and he was constantly unwell his mother was the 16 year old princess Sadako as was the custom among Japanese Royals the child was taken from his parents and raised by a surrogate it was decided by the Emperor that his grandson be raised by a retired military officer in order to provide the mental toughness and discipline that would be needed for his future role as Emperor the man that was chosen was count Cao amara Sumiyoshi a retired vice admiral the Emperor told calamara to raise her a hito is if he were his own grandson karemera raised the infants at his mansion in the hills outside of Tokyo when he was 14 months old her Ito was joined by his younger brother Prince yeshu hito every aspect of the children's lives was carefully overseen including the foods they ate and the clothes that they wore but then in November of 1904 calamara died and suddenly the two boys were reunited with their parents at the crown prince's Aoyama palace the boys were now attended by a series of nurses the main carer of Hirohito was a woman named Adachi tako who became his surrogate mother Hirohito developed into a sedate retiring and insecure Charles as would be expected he was fussed over and pampered from the moments he work each morning this did nothing to develop resilience and independence even in play he was to be shown the utmost reverence he and other children of the royal palace played war games he was always to take the role of the conquering general from the age of four onwards Hirohito and his brother were indoctrinated into the military heritage of their nation they were often taken to military parades and war museums to gaze upon the swords of former heroes Harry yuto's worldview was built upon the belief that the entire past present and future of the great Empire of Japan depended on the wisdom of the Emperor and those few advisers that he surrounded himself with at the age of seven Hirohito straining was put in the hands of a hero of the russo-japanese war named general noogie noogie insisted on strict military discipline refusing to show any deference for the princes position instruction centered on things that were considered essential in a future Emperor frugality patience diligence self-control and manliness no he quickly made the young Hirohito come to the realization that he was physically weak and had to work hard to develop physical strength his instructors apears college were also told to give special attention to guiding him in military matters by the age of eleven Hirohito had been imbued with a strong sense of reverence for his ancestors it was at that age that he officially became a Crown Prince he was also given the rank of second lieutenant in the army a few months later and purim AG died at the age of 61 Hirohito his father inherited the supreme position in contrast to his own father Yoshihito proved to be a weak and indecisive Emperor as a result that visors came to have more and more sway in the royal court Yoshihito did not involve himself in state affairs his grandfather's death marked a turning point in the life of the future emperor a new phase of his training it was undertaken with the appointment of a military aide to come into Chamberlain between the ages of 13 and 19 he was given a military and liberal arts education at a school that had been especially built for him within the confines of the Takanawa palace he was instructed by the brightest military minds in the land Hirohito graduated from the school in 1921 by this time he developed a fascination with biology he liked nothing better than collecting seashells and small insects during his school years his teacher of Natural History was a professor hitori for the next 30 years Satori acted as his servant in all manner of scientific pursuits in 1921 Hirohito visited Europe making him the first Japanese Crown Prince to travel abroad he was out of the country for six months visiting the United Kingdom France Italy Belgium and the Netherlands of this period he later wrote I new freedom for the first time in England every move that the young Prince made while on tour was covered feverishly by the world's press having just returned from his overseas excursion Hirohito was thrust further into the limelight when his father retired his office due to mental illness the future emperor was now the regent he was to retain this position until his father died at the age of 23 Hurra hito married his distant cousin Princess Nagato Cooney he did so against the advice of his advisers who considered her to be an unsuitable match for the future Emperor two years later with the death of his father his Regency ended and he became the Emperor [Music] Hirohito inherited the throne on December the 25th 1926 the 25 year old was now the 124th Emperor of Japan this automatically natan the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces able to give orders directly without consulting the cabinet's he also became the chief priest of the Shinto religion guiding him in his new political life Hirohito was attended to by a seven-member palace entourage of men much older than himself these gathered filtered and disseminated political information to the Emperor Hirohito quickly established a vast network of informants who relayed information to him on the going-ons in every corner of government he even had a spy regularly reporting to him on the political activities of his brother Prince Chichibu the new emperor was keen to stamp his footprints on the political landscape his first act was to announce the public holiday in remembrance of his grandfather then in an effort to show solidarity with the peasantry during a time of agricultural hardship he received rice plants from all over the Empire and staged a ritualistic rice planting event within the palace grounds throughout the Year 1928 enthronement ceremonies and rituals were carried out in honor of the emperor the celebrations climaxed in November and December when hundreds of thousands of people participated in banquets and award ceremonies in the Emperor's name millions of yen were given to the needy and thousands of prison sentences were commuted the reign of Hirohito was designated as Showa which means enlightened peace from the moment of his ascension the emperor was no longer to be referred to by his given name but rather by the title his majesty the emperor hirohito came to power during a time of economic hardship the crisis had led to the rise of political power of the military who now had veto power over his cabinets incidents of political violence were not uncommon in 1932 the Prime Minister in your Chi tio sheet was assassinated and there was an attempt on Hirohito his own life in 1932 this incident led to a dramatic curtailing of the Emperor's availability to the public as Emperor Hirohito followed a disciplined routine he rose at 6:00 sharp every morning to prepare for an English breakfast at 7:00 throughout the morning he would receive visitors enjoy a light lunch at midday and then spend the afternoon poor / and signing documents Hirohito's marriage din the Garko it was a happy one with their only source of anxiety being the failure to produce an heir his advisors urged him to take a concubine but he resisted this advice the couple bought three daughters before the heir to the throne Akihito arrived in 1933 the couple of went ons you have a total of seven children [Music] Japan had enjoyed a level of unprecedented growth and prosperity during the 1920s in essence the country existed as a democracy during this period which lessens the influence of the military this came to an end with the onset of the depression during which time the strong measures advocated by the military leaders began to gain ascendancy the unification of neighboring China also fed into the call for a strong militaristic hands in 1931 the military moved against civilian leaders but first they devised a plan to go to walk with Manchuria by blowing up a portion of the South Manchurian railway and blame it on the Chinese this gave the pretext for an invasion of Manchuria the Emperor not to mentioned the government was completely in the dark about any of these goings-on this set the scene for the 1930s this was a period during which the military pretty much acted in an arbitrary fashion when the army began a full-scale invasion of China Hirohito ordered that they stop however the Cabinet managed to persuade the Emperor to acquiesce and allow this invasion to proceed Hirohito felt powerless to rein in the army ever fearful that doing so would result in his assassination in 1932 he gave the go-ahead for the bombing of Shanghai the assault was also approved by the Chinese leader Chiang kai-shek who saw it as an opportunity to put down a rebel group who were based in Shanghai the bombing and subsequent invasion led to tremendous loss of life unleashing worldwide condemnation Hirohito was worried that the Americans might respond militarily and told the army to withdraw again they ignored the commands of their Emperor the Japanese went on to completely subjugate Shanghai by now Manchuria was completely occupied and had become a Japanese state many Chinese were simply put to death by the occupying force once again this brought public condemnation with the League of Nations condemning the Japanese in response Japan resigned from the league despite the Emperor's desire to remain within us unable to stop their withdrawal he insisted that his foreign minister stress that Japan was determined to work to achieve world peace throughout the 1930s spurred by the flexing of his military muscle a sense of nationalism grew in Japan that saw a reverence for the samurai traditions Vols all of this fed into the worst of the Emperor which was especially strong among the rank and file of the Armed Forces via soldiers viewed Hirohito as a god and pledged their lives to serve Him in 1934 Japan began to enlarge its Navy and direct violation of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 which had restricted its size to 3/5 that of the United States in Great Britain yes again Hirohito was against the move but was not strong enough to stand up to the military the flexing of military muscle came to a head in February of 1936 when there occurred an uprising led by army officers finally Hirohito acted decisively he ordered the immediate suppression of the revolts along with the execution of its instigators [Music] Hirohito was powerless however to stop the growing power of the military by 1937 the situation with China had developed into all-out war era Ito had agreed to a buildup of forces in occupied China in order to stem the tide of communism but he soon realized that hostilities were escalating uncontrollably and he insisted that the army pulled back however the military brass they were not listening a full-scale attack was made on the Chinese capital of Nanking in the wake of the subjugation of Nanking the Japanese army unleashed an orgy of rape and murder that shocked the world known as The Rape of Nanking it resulted in the death of as many as 200,000 Chinese men women and children worldwide condemnation for the atrocities of Nanking were heaped upon Japan still the Armed Forces forged on in their attempt to conquer China however the country was simply too large with the result that the Japanese military was tied up in a hopeless mission on foreign soil for the next four years by the outbreak of the Second World War the combination of nationalism Emperor worship and military control had forged to Japan into a nation that was ready and eager to enter hostilities with other nations after all going to war was seen as doing the will of the Emperor the reality was that Hirohito was opposed to the idea of his country going to war he was a pacifist at heart and was cautious by Nature but he was simply too weak wills to control the reins of a military that was chomping at the bit to exert its control throughout the Far East [Music] in September 1940 Japan entered into a three-way alliance with Germany and Italy this gave the military leaders the confidence to extend its conquests in the Far East the first victim would be the French colony of Indochina with the French already having been beaten by Germany it was easy pickings the Emperor however was opposed to the move on principle considering it to be like acting as a thief in a fire in 1941 Japan signed a non-aggression pact with Soviet Union this gave the military the confidence to extend its occupation into southern Indochina in response the United States imposed tough sanctions on the Japanese they also put an embargo on all oil exports to Japan this move forced Japan's hand with the results that the decision was made to go to war with the United States as usual the Emperor felt powerless to stop this military juggernaut with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 war was declared between the United States and Japan Hirohito though not opposing the planned attack had always intended that Japan would declare war before striking he considered the surprise attack on Hawaii as dirty tactics and was extremely upset with the military for the manner in which this attack was carried out with a much long fall war now upon them all of Japan put their shoulder to the wheel in support of victory ironically the Emperor who had never been an advocate of the war was looked to as the champion of the Japanese war effort during the first few months of 1942 Japan won victory after victory Malaya Singapore Bataan but then a heavy blow was inflicted when an American bombing raid was unleashed upon a number of key Japanese cities the Battle of Midway was the first military defeat and things they simply never recovered by the end of 1944 Japan's last hopes rested with the kamikaze pilots who vowed to die for their Emperor by crashing their planes into American aircraft carriers but this was simply too little too late Hirohito was by now eager to see an end to hostilities for the first time he involved himself in the planning of a battle that if one would force the Americans to propose a peace settlement the resulting Battle of Okinawa saw some of the fiercest fighting of the entire war however the Emperor's plan it back fat the American casualties were so high that they despaired that the Japanese would ever surrender with American bombs decimating his key cities Iraheta was ready to put an end to the carnage but once again he was overridden by his military commanders who vowed to never surrender on August the 6th and 9th 1945 the Americans dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki despite the terrible loss of life that resulted half of the Prime Minister's cabinet were opposed to a surrender the deadlock it was broken by the Emperor on August the 15th the people of Japan heard the voice of their Emperor for the first time he told them that Japan was surrendering to the Allies in stating his reasons for the surrender he said with reference to the atomic bomb that a continuation of the struggle would lead to the total extinction of human civilization the formal surrender took place on September the 2nd onboard the USS Missouri arizo did not have to suffer the indignity of attending Japan was now an occupied country under the management of General Douglas MacArthur the Emperor expressed a desire to abdicate but he was persuaded to remain in place by MacArthur giving him on the throne would help to provide some semblance of normality as Japan emerged from the ashes of war the Allies drew up a list of 28 top wartime leaders who are culpable of committing crimes against humanity during the war and they put them on trial here at he's out though it was not among them still many pointed the finger at the Emperor surely if he was a god he could have stopped the atrocities [Music] with mounting pressure Hirohito spoke to its people for a second time over the radio on New Year's Day 1946 this time what he had to say was even more shocking than his announcement of the surrender he was not a god he told the nation but just an imperfect human being just like them in the wake of this bombshell announcement his title was officially changed from imperial sovereign to constitutional monarch throughout the next few years Hirohito made many public appearances he toured bombed-out cities and inspected new factories now he dressed in a suit and tie looking more like a prime minister than an emperor hirohito Zima J was now reshaped into the symbol of the well-to-do Japanese middle class success story he was what the ordinary Japanese man could strive to be if he worked hard enough free of his imperial duties the former emperor now had time to indulge his passion for biology in the ensuing decades era hito faded into the backgrounds of Japanese significance he was increasingly seen as a symbol of the old Japan the new Japan it was focused on industrialization consumerism and a strong work ethic his value was now as a public relations figure who was occasionally wheeled out and sent around the world on goodwill toss [Music] still the specter of the passing of the emperor in the mid 1980s saw an outpouring of grief and profound respect among all classes and all ages in Japan but also there was the question of war responsibility but the consensus was and remains that Hirohito bore a measure of moral responsibility for the atrocities that were committed in China and through the Far East in the 1930s and 40s the ends it ultimately came on January the 7th 1989 the result of duodenal cancer the funeral was attended by representatives of 163 nations many had mixed feelings about being there because of the war responsibility question Great Britain's Prince Philip later said that he overcame his conscience by not bowing before the Emperor's casket simply knotting his head slightly so I really hope you enjoyed that episode of biographic if you did there's a couple of things you could do right now one is hit that like button below also if you want more stuff like this we put out brand new videos every Monday and every Thursday so hit that subscribe button below and subscribe button doesn't do what it used to on YouTube if you actually want to get a notification about these videos please do hit that Bell button next to the subscribe button and that will send you a notification every time every Monday and Thursday won't put out a new video also if you want to watch something else right now stuff from the archive over there on the right and as always thank you for watching [Music] you

Channel: Biographics

Views: 1,191,764

Keywords: Emperor Hirohito, Emperor Hirohito biography, Hirohito, Emperor Hirohito life, who was Emperor Hirohito, japanese emperors, emperor of japan, famous emperors, who was hirohito, what happened to hirohito, was hirohito a criminal

Id: bJ9rzXQt2O8

Length: 20min 44sec (1244 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 17 2018