| Emperor Hirohito (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989) in his Supreme Generalissimo’s uniform, with decorations on his chest. When his grandfather, Emperor Meiji (November 3, 1852 – July 29, 1912), died on July 30, 1912, Hirohito’s father, Yoshihito (August 31, 1879 – December 25, 1926), assumed the throne, and Hirohito became the heir apparent. At the same time, at age 11, he was formally commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army and as an Ensign in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was also decorated with the Grand Cordon of the Dai-kun’i kikka-shō (“Order of the Chrysanthemum”) on September 9, 1912. He is also wearing the Kinshi Kunshō (“Order of the Golden Kite”). Starting around 1928, Hirohito and his reign became associated with the rediscovery of hakkō ichiu, an expansionist belief that infused Japanese nationalism with new dynamism. Education and military affairs — 2 spheres of national life affecting all Japanese — had been placed under the emperor’s direct extraconstitutional control, making him the sacred pedagogue with the power to proselytize, as well as the Supreme Generalissimo with the power to issue orders to the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. Only photographers certified by the Imperial Household Ministry were permitted to record the emperor’s image. And they had to use a telephoto lens from a distance of at least 20 meters, and usually (though not always) show only the upper half of the emperor’s body, and never his back, because it was slightly rounded. He could not be shown smiling, for living gods were not supposed to smile. He could only be photographed standing motionless or at attention. Such photographers could be relied on not to use their photographic skills to undermine popular loyalty to the throne. Above all, they were expected to show their own personal feelings of reverence for their subject. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1580.jpg |
| Image Size | 111.52 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 832 x 1296 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Imperial Japanese Household |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 30, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Tokyo |
| State or Province | Tokyo |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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