smartpolitics

Is there any other nation in the world with a story stranger than Japan’s?

On this day in 1945, Hirohito, the Showa Emperor of Japan, recorded something now known as the Imperial Rescript on Surrender by speaking (via phonograph) to the Japanese people directly, making him quite possibly the first Japanese Emperor to ever address his subjects. Hirohito explained that the only way to be honorable was to preserve the lives of his people, and so he was accepting the Allied terms from the Potsdam Declatration (a.k.a. unconditional surrender, a term which the Emperor was careful to avoid in his speech, though anyone who knew about the Potsdam Declaration knew what he meant).

Preparations were made on August 13th, and Hirohito most likely recorded the Rescript on the 14th itself, the very same day as a military “coup” tried to break into the Imperial Palace, destroy the record and set up Hirohito as a puppet.

The record had been hidden with bedding material in an emergency cupboard. Major Hatanaka, whom had killed a superior earlier in the evening in order to use his stamp to sign a fake millitary order to give the anti-surrender folks time and authority to search the Palace, was unable to find the Rescript because an Allied attack had cut out the electricity to the Palace. By 3am on August 15, the Eastern District Army had learned of Hatanaka’s plan and decided to support the Emperor’s decision to surrender, informing Hatanaka that they woud use whatever force necessary to secure the safety of the recording. Seeing defeat in every corner, Hatanaka pleaded for ten minutes of on-air time to express his reasons for the “coup” over the radio. He was refused, but broke into the radio station at 5am with a pistol, demanding to explain his reasons for betraying the Emperor. The radio broadcasters bravely refused, calling Hatanaka a traitor for betraying the will of the Emperor. As the Eastern Army closed in, Hatanaka finally gave up, and left the studio with his followers. They ran up as many flyers as they could that stated their reasons for opposing surrender, then dropped them in the streets all over town, and then, presumably, most of them committed seppuku.

The Rescript was smuggled out of the palace in a laundry basket and broadcast at around 12 noon on August 15. At around 11am, one hour earlier, Hatanaka himself had finally committed seppuku, his death poem reading, “I have nothing to regret now that the dark clouds have disappeared from the reign of the Emperor.”

(cont. tomorrow)

Trackback URI | Comments RSS