Hirohito

Emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989, reigning through war and reconstruction.

Hirohito was born on 29 April 1901 at Tōgū Palace in Aoyama, Tokyo, the first son of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako.^[1] Following his father's death on 25 December 1926, Hirohito succeeded to the throne as Japan's 124th emperor.^[2][3]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Reign: 25 December 1926 – 7 January 1989
Coronation: 10 November 1928
Predecessor: Taishō
Successor: Akihito
Posthumous name: Tsuigō:; Emperor Shōwa (昭和天皇)
Spouse: Princess Nagako, 26 January 1924
Era name: Shōwa

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

At age 11, he was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Army as a Second Lieutenant and in the Imperial Japanese Navy as an Ensign.^[4] After returning from an overseas tour, he became Regent of Japan on 25 November 1921 in place of his ailing father.^[5] The Great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo on 1 September 1923, killing some 100,000 people.^[6] Prince Hirohito married his distant cousin Princess Nagako Kuni on 26 January 1924.^[7]

On 25 December 1926, Hirohito assumed the throne and became Emperor of Japan after the death of his father.^[2] Count Kawamura Sumiyoshi, a retired vice-admiral, took charge of Hirohito's upbringing seventy days after his birth, treating him like a grandson.^[8][2] The formal announcement of Hirohito as crown prince and heir apparent occurred on 2 November 1916.^[9] On 27 December 1923, Daisuke Nanba, the son of a Diet member and communist agitator, shot at Hirohito's carriage, wounding a chamberlain but failing to harm the prince.^[2][3]

What the cited sources add

The PacificWrecks account notes that Hirohito never personally objected to the Second Sino-Japanese War and authorized the use of poison gas during the Battle of Wuhan.^[2] A pearlharbor.org article states that Hirohito called the war plan against the United States “self-destructive” and a “reckless war”.^[10] The same source reports that Hirohito rejected former Prime Minister Konoe’s suggestion to negotiate surrender in February 1945.^[10] A Tokyo Weekender article records a third assassination attempt on Hirohito by Korean Patriotic Legion member Lee Bong-Chang in 1932.^[11]

The Undiscovered Taipei account describes that Hirohito's entourage, worried for his safety, looked for flat rocks to serve as stepping stones at Beitou Creek.^[12]

References

Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Historic Figures: Emperor Hirohito (1901–1989)", BBC History; Ponsonby-Fane 1959, p. 337 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
PacificWrecks.com, "Pacific Wrecks - Emperor Hirohito 裕仁 (Shōwa)", pacificwrecks.com. facts only, no text reused. pacificwrecks.com
"The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito", Pearl Harbor, 13 March 2018. facts only, no text reused. pearlharbor.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: PacificWrecks.com, "Pacific Wrecks - Emperor Hirohito 裕仁 (Shōwa)", pacificwrecks.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bix 2001, p. [https://archive.org/details/hirohitomakingof00herb/page/22 22–23]; "Hirohito Is Named Regent of Japan", The New York Times, 26 November 1921, p. 4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito", Pearl Harbor, 13 March 2018; "The Takao Club: Crown Prince Hirohito's 1923 Visit to Takao"; Hernon, "TW's List of 7: Notorious Assassination Plots in Japan", Tokyo Weekender, November 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hirohito's survivors", Los Angeles Times, 7 January 1989 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bix 2001, p. [https://archive.org/details/hirohitomakingof00herb/page/22 22–23] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hirohito" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; see :File:Crowd awaiting Crown Prince Tokyo Dec1916.jpg, The New York Times. 3 December 1916. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"The Long and Eventful Reign of Hirohito", pearlharbor.org, 13 March 2018. facts only, no text reused. pearlharbor.org
Hernon, "TW's List of 7: Notorious Assassination Plots in Japan", Tokyo Weekender, November 2024. facts only, no text reused. tokyoweekender.com
Chung, "Long Nice Hot Spring and Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito", Undiscovered Taipei, 16 March 2018. facts only, no text reused. travel.taipei

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hirohito (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.