EMPEROR HIROHITO OF JAPAN
Politics
Born: April 29, 1901
Tokyo, Japan
Died: January 7, 1989

"Celebrate the ways of rectitude: foster nobility of spirit; and work with resolution so as ye may enhance the innate glory of the imperial state, and keep pace with the progess of the world."

Emperor Hirohito was born in Tokyo on April 29, 1901. His father was the Taisho Emperor, Yoshihito. His mother, Empress Teimei, was Princess Sadako, the fourth daughter of Prince Michitaka Kujo. The future Emperor Hirohito was their first son, and his name as a child was Michinomiya. He graduated from the Gakushuin (Peers' School) in 1914 and became crown prince in 1916. After graduating from the Crown Prince's School in 1921, he traveled in Europe for six months--a tour without precedent for a Japanese crown prince.

In November 1921, after his return to Japan, he became regent for his father, who was ill. In 1924 he married Princess Nagako, the first daughter of Prince Kunihiko Kuninomiya. On Dec. 25, 1926, when the Taisho Emperor died, Crown Prince Hirohito became Emperor of Japan. His enthronement ceremony took place in Kyoto on Nov. 10, 1928.

In 1926, Emperor Hirohito of Japan succeeded his father Yoshihito as Japan's 124th Emperor. He had been a regent since 1921 and his reign became known as the Showa era. Until the end of World War II, Hirohito was revered as a god, but in 1946 he publicly rejected the concept of imperial divinity, declaring that the emperor was mortal. In 1947 the Constitution stripped him of all real power, deciding that the sovereign power would hence lie with the people. Hirohito remained a figure head until his death in 1989. During the Showa reign, Japan experienced military expansion and eventual defeat in World War II as well as renewed international cooperation which has made Japan one of today's major economic powers. Hirohito was succeeded by his son Emperor Akihito.