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| Above, Emperor Hirohito and President Nixon in Alaska in 1971. |
Before the Japanese surrendered in 1945, they were worried that a surrender would cause the arrest and possible execution of Emperor Hirohito.
But, part of the surrender agreement between the U.S. and Japan included allowing Hirohito to stay on as Emperor, but his role would be drastically changed.
It has been revealed that Hirohito, during his final years, was in anguish over being blamed for his role in World War II.
Kyodo News reported:
Emperor Hirohito said during his final years that he did not wish to live much longer as he would only experience more anguish at sad events and being blamed for his role in war, the diary of a close aide obtained by Kyodo News for the first time showed Wednesday.
The diary kept by late chamberlain Shinobu Kobayashi revealed the aging emperor was haunted by talk of his wartime responsibility following the Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
"There is no point in living a longer life by reducing my workload. It would only increase my chances of seeing or hearing things that are agonizing," according to the diary entry dated April 7, 1987. The emperor, who died in 1989, was 85 at the time.
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