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SHŌWA TENNŌ
昭和天皇
Emperor Shōwa
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Emperor Shōwa was known in the West as Emperor Hirohito. (Hirohito / 裕仁 was in fact his given name. All Japanese emperors are also known by a reign name, which is chosen at the time of accession.) Shōwa (“Enlightened Peace”) was Hirohito’s imperial reign name. The Japanese word for “emperor” is tennō / 天皇. Thereofore, Shōwa Tennō means “Emperor of Enlightened Peace.” This is the name that a Japanese person would be most likely to use when referring to the late Emperor Hirohito.
Emperor Shōwa was one of the great transitional figures of Japanese history. When he ascended to the throne as a young man in 1926, Japan was completing the modernization drive it began in the mid- to late-1800s during the Meiji Era (1868-1912.) Japan was also challenging the Western powers for supremacy in East Asia.
The 124th Emperor of Japan, Hirohito reigned longer than any Japanese monarch to date. Emperor Hirohito ruled over three Japans—an empire, a defeated aggressor, and a modern, first-world industrial nation.
Early Life
Hirohito was born in Aoyama Palace in Tokyo. He was the first son of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako. As a child, his official title was Michi no miya (Prince Michi). When Hirohito’s grandfather, Emperor Meiji, died in 1912, his father became Emperor Taishō, and Hirohito became the heir apparent to the Japanese throne. His official investiture as Crown Prince was performed in 1916.
Because of medical problems, Emperor Taishō was unable to effectively execute his duties as emperor. Hirohito was named regent in November 1921. As regent, he ruled in place of his ailing father.
Hirohito made a six-month tour of Europe in 1922. The trip received wide publicity in Japan as well as abroad, as Hirohito was the first Japanese crown prince to travel overseas. In 1924, he married a distant cousin, Nagako. There would be a total of seven children from the marriage. One of these children, Akihito (b. 1933), is the present emperor of Japan.
Hirohito became Emperor Shōwa in December 1926 after his father died. The situation in Japan was volatile, as militarist factions were battling civilian politicians for control of the country. There were repeated incidents of right-wing political violence. Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by young naval officers in 1932. In 1936, junior officers of the Imperial Japanese Army staged a coup in downtown Tokyo. Their plans to take over the government were ultimately thwarted, but they killed several senior politicians.
The early years of Emperor Shōwa’s reign was also marked by Japanese expansionism in Asia. Japan’s Kwangtung Army invaded Manchuria in 1931. Over the next nine years Japanese forces also advanced into China proper and Southeast Asia. This led to the outbreak of war with the United States in 1941, and Japan’s defeat in 1945.
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