So emperor Hirohito died and lived to his 80s or 90s, why wasn’t he instantly killed or sent to jail after the war ended. Did he get punished at all?
In: 1701
Japanese during that time actually believed he (the Emperor) was a deity descended from Heaven. He was infallible; God incarnate. Yes, they believed it with their entire being!
MacArthur feared that killing Hirohito would cause the Japanese people to rescind their surrender and keep fighting to the last. It was therfore incumbent upon MacArthur to stage a scenario where the Japanese people could hear from their own emperor’s mouth that Japan surrenders. There is a powerful picture of a Japanese family bowing low to a radio as the Emperor’s transmission was just heard over all of the country.
There is also a picture of MacArthur standing next to Hirohito towering above him. All of those images & soundbites were necessary to convince Japan that their Emperor was human and not divine.
Not only was the war lost, but Japan’s belief system was shook to the core. Some say Japan’s “back” was broken twice at the end of the war: losing the war and losing its beliefs.
(Source: Eastern Civilizations college course).
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