Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (117 page)

Reliance on such special reprisal weapons as wind-carried balloon bombs was an indication of Hirohito's growing anxiety. The loss of the Marianas had inaugurated not only a new stage in the war, but also a new political crisis in Tokyo, in which he himself was once again targeted for criticism by members of his own imperial family. Around this time in the diary of Hirohito's brother, Prince Takamatsu, there appear comments such as: The emperor doesn't realize the gravity of the situation; he cleaves rigidly to bureaucratic hierarchy and is liable to dismiss anyone who steps beyond his jurisdiction; he “flares up frequently.”
¹⁰⁴
Criticism from the member of the family who had long faulted Hirohito's performance as emperor was nothing new, of course. More important were criticisms arising within ruling circles, and directed against T
j
, whose accumulation of power Hirohito alone had made possible.

Between the defeats in the Solomons early in 1943 and the fall of Saipan in July 1944, a small group of court officials and senior
statesmen led by Konoe and aided by a navy group centered around Admiral Okada, had been working covertly to force T
j
out of office. Knowing that T
j
's power flowed from the supporting and far greater power of the emperor, these men never doubted that Hirohito could dismiss his prime minister whenever he decided to. Indeed, they regarded the emperor as the main obstacle in their path to peace.
¹⁰⁵

Personally disappointed with the state of the war, Hirohito finally decided to withdraw his support of T
j
, opening the way for T
j
's enemies to precipitate the collapse of the entire T
j
cabinet on July 18, 1944.

Two days after T
j
had resigned, Hirohito himself bestowed on his favorite general an unusually warm imperial rescript praising him for his “meritorious services and hard work” and telling him that, “Hereafter we expect you to live up to our trust and make even greater contributions to military affairs.”
¹⁰⁶
Although the rescript was not published, T
j
's enemies within the government and in court circles knew of it and were put on notice as to the emperor's feelings toward the man many Japanese at that time feared as a virtual dictator.