| Emperor Hirohito visits a rehabilitation center for elderly Hiroshima residents who lost everything in the atomic attack and now repair and package shoes. On December 7, 1947 — 6 years [to the day] after the Pearl Harbor attack and 26 months after the end of the war — Emperor Hirohito (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989) and his party arrived at atom-bombed Hiroshima. The streets had been specially cleaned and dusted for the occasion. Wearing a dark gray Homburg [hat] and clothes that in the opinion of an Australian observer might “have been deliberately chosen so as not to be too much on the smart side,” he seemed to “symbolize the down at the heels but determined look characteristic of present-day Japan.” By this time [Supreme Command Allied Powers (SCAP)] General Headquarters (GHQ) had begun to reevaluate the Imperial tours in response to growing foreign and domestic criticism as well as criticism within GHQ itself. Paul J. Kent (August 11, 1917 – September 12, 1963) of the GHQ Political Affairs Division was assigned to accompany the Emperor to the Chūgoku region. Kent’s initial report, dated December 16, 1947, noted the huge size of the Imperial Party: almost a 100 officials and attendants, plus countless Japanese newspaper and magazine reporters and photographers who “followed the Imperial Party at every stage of the journey…[and] were provided with space on the train, and with buses, or automobiles, for local travel.” Kent blamed “this multitude of votaries, satellites, dog robbers, and seneschals” for “the monstrous expenditure of funds by local governments and private corporations.” He went on to note that: virtually every street over which the Imperial Party travelled had been newly repaired…[and] spots of ground on which he stood to see rice fields and farms were covered with floorings and canopies. Pillars, columns, and arches, usually covered with flowers and branches, were erected at the entrances to squares and street corners and on the approaches to bridges. Railings upon which he laid his hand were covered with cloth, paths upon which he walked were not infrequently covered with matting. If 1 considers the total effort…1 is forced to conclude that a staggering sum was devoted to enterprises which serve no useful purpose and which are…completely unjustified in a nation standing upon the verge of financial collapse. The Emperor, he insisted, “does not see actual conditions” and his inspection tours, which were more like “campaign tours,” served mainly to keep him in the public eye for days and weeks in advance of each visit. Worst of all, rather than democratizing the monarchy, the tours were increasing “the power and influence of the Imperial tradition.” Kent did not dare criticize Hirohito himself for this sorry state of affairs, but instead described him as: “Nervous to the point of looking physically handicapped; his gestures and movements are jerky and uncoordinated. He hesitates before speaking or acting. If not thoroughly self-conscious, he is certainly ill-at-ease…On almost all occasions his face was devoid of any expression. He did smile a few times, when speaking to children, and when the ‘Banzais’ assumed great proportions. He is even poorly dressed.” Ultimately Kent attributed the emperor’s uneasiness to the attitude of the Imperial house officials, whom he also blamed for 2 incidents he found particularly disturbing. 1 was the emperor’s tour of Hiroshima, on the 6th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The other incident that aroused Kent’s anger was the “organized wide-spread display of the [sun] flag” that occurred on December 11, the last day of the Chūgoku tour. GHQ took quick action. On January 12, 1948, SCAP’s General Headquarters’ Government Section ordered the Emperor’s “campaign tours” discontinued on the ground that officials of the Imperial Household Office had contravened the spirit of numerous GHQ orders. They had conducted themselves arrogantly and undemocratically, and the Japanese bureaucracy, flagrantly misusing public funds, had levied unjust taxes to finance the emperor’s touring. GHQ also took note of rumors of plots against the emperor’s life, involving alleged Korean Communists who were upset about the newly enacted Alien Registration Law. Unstated was deeper concern that, rather than removing all traces of the Emperor’s renounced divinity and freeing the Japanese citizenry from their feeling of subject-hood, the tours were actually promoting the old idolatry. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1741.jpg |
| Image Size | 72.16 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 700 x 500 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 7, 1947 |
| Location | |
| City | Hiroshima |
| State or Province | Hiroshima |
| Country | Japan |
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| 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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