Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (166 page)

Hirohito's face stiffened: “I can't answer that kind of question because I haven't thoroughly studied the literature in this field, and so don't really appreciate the nuances of your words.” When asked about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he said, “It's very regrettable that nuclear bombs were dropped, and I feel sorry for the citizens of Hiroshima. But it couldn't be helped because that happened in wartime.”
⁴⁸
Hirohito's pretense of ignorance, as if he had been an
innocent bystander to the events of his reign, was too much for many Japanese viewers. His “it couldn't be helped” remark, denying any role in the events that had led to the tragedy of Hiroshima, especially angered professional historians. That year Inoue Kiyoshi published the first carefully documented account of Hirohito's contributions at each stage of the China and Pacific wars. Nezu Masashi followed with the first critical biography. The work of unmasking the emperor had begun.

Three months after this interview, the Ky
d
News Agency surveyed three thousand men and women on the state of the monarchy. More than 80 percent responded. Nearly 57 percent of these respondents either believed that the emperor bore war responsibility or were unsure if he did. By his answers to the various interview questions, Hirohito showed, once again, that he was out of step with the feelings of the majority of the Japanese people.
⁴⁹

V

Hirohito's European and American visits, together with his various press interviews, helped the Japanese people to reengage with the long-buried question of his war responsibility. But for Hirohito the foreign tours and the interviews had no such effect. For him, the event that triggered a confrontation with the past was more personal. Certain reminiscences on the war by his brother, Prince Takamatsu, had appeared in the February 1975 issue of the popular journal
Bungei shunj
. Hirohito seems not to have learned about the article until January 1976.
⁵⁰
Interviewed on the war by journalist Kase Hideaki, Prince Takamatsu implied that he had been a dove and Hirohito a reckless hawk. He told of the incident on November 30, 1941, when he had spoken to his brother for five minutes, warning him that the navy high command could feel confident only if the war lasted no longer than two years. Takamatsu also recalled warning his brother to end the war right after the Battle of Midway. And
he told how, in June 1944, he had shocked a meeting of staff officers at Navy General Headquarters by telling them that “Since the absolute defense perimeter has already been destroyed…our goal should be to focus on the best way to lose the war.” Finally, Takamatsu revealed that he and Prince Konoe had considered asking the emperor to abdicate prior to surrender.
⁵¹

Learning of these disclosures, Hirohito grew very upset. He felt his brother had gone too far. What could he do to save his reputation as emperor? For the first time since he dictated his “Monologue” and, with Inada Sh
ichi and Kinoshita Michio, made the first “Record of the Emperor's Conversations” (
Haich
roku
), Hirohito returned to the task of setting the historical record straight. The project to record the events of his reign and define the place that he would occupy in history focused on his role during the years of war and occupation. It quickly turned into a consuming interest that haunted him for the rest of his life. By nature the least self-reflective of men, Hirohito became obsessed with his past.

In February 1976, assisted by his grand chamberlain, Irie Sukemasa, Hirohito began to make the second
Haich
roku
. Irie worked on the revisions until his death in 1983. It is tempting to imagine Hirohito continuing, helped by some other aide, almost until his own death six years later. The process involved Hirohito dictating to Irie, ordering him to put in new “facts” as he, the emperor, remembered them. Hirohito would then reread Irie's revised version of some event, correct it, and return it for polishing and copying out in ink on high-quality paper. Sometimes Hirohito would summon Irie daily or twice daily to make a change in the text. But hardly a week went by when the two old men were not at work together.

On November 10, 1976, Hirohito, now seventy-five years old, took time off from his secret history project to celebrate his fiftieth year on the throne. The state ceremony at the heavily guarded Martial Arts Hall (Bud
kan) in Tokyo was attended by some 7,500 dig
nitaries. Noticeably absent were representatives of the Socialist and Communist Parties and several prefectural governors who were opposed in principle to honoring the first twenty years of his “Sh
wa” reign, when he was at the height of his power. When it was over, Hirohito went back to his dictation, and to relying on Irie's literary skills. By the end of 1976, Irie had filled more than “nine notebooks plus a conclusion” with the emperor's revised account of events.
⁵²

Hirohito worked on the revised memoir of his reign all through 1977, 1978, and 1979. He insisted on continuing with it into his eighties, just as he insisted on performing some of the more physically exhausting court ceremonies and on not letting his son take over as regent while he lived. He never seemed to tire of the project. Irie, in his diary entries for 1980, notes how the emperor worried about Honj
Shigeru's account of the February 26, 1936, military uprising. The names of some of the prime movers in saving him from indictment during the occupation period are mentioned: Fellers, Terasaki, Keenan, and so on.
⁵³
Voices from the past kept recurring, as did the events of 1941. His concern with what his brother Takamatsu had said about him in print had become obsessive.