Hirohito

Emperor Shōwa (29 April 1901 – 7 January 1989), personal name Hirohito, was Emperor of Japan from 25 December 1926 until his death on 7 January 1989. He reigned during a period of increasing Japanese nationalism and militarism, culminating in the entry of the Empire of Japan into World War II as an Axis power. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led Hirohito to announce the surrender of Japan to the Allies in August 1945. Under pressure from the Allies, he issued the Humanity Declaration in January 1946, rejecting the divinity of the emperor as a descendant of Amaterasu. After the war, he presided over a period of unprecedented economic growth known as the Japanese economic miracle. By the time of his death, Hirohito had been Emperor of Japan for 62 years and 13 days, the longest reign in Japanese history and the 12th longest verifiable reign in world history. Hirohito was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Meiji, as the first child of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako (later Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Hirohito's father ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne, and Hirohito was proclaimed Crown Prince of Japan in 1916, making him the heir apparent. In 1921, he made an official visit to six European countries, marking the first time a Japanese crown prince had traveled abroad. Due to his father's ill health, Hirohito became Sesshō of Japan (regent) that same year. In 1924, he married Princess Nagako Kuni, with whom he later had seven children: Shigeko, Sachiko, Kazuko, Atsuko, Akihito, Masahito and Takako. He became emperor upon his father's death in 1926. As Japan's head of state, Emperor Hirohito oversaw the rise of militarism in Japanese politics. In 1931, he raised no objection when Japan's Kwantung...