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When I consider the dead and their families, I cannot repress my mental agony.
— Hirohito
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Hirohito
military personnel, diplomat, marine biologist, zoologist, monarch, aristocrat
1901 – 1989
Hirohito , posthumously honored as Emperor Shōwa , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. He remains the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world. As emperor during the Shōwa era, Hirohito presided over Japan's rise in militarism, its imperial expansion in Asia, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War, as well as the nation's postwar economic miracle.
All Quotes by Hirohito
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When I calmly consider this, the flame of anxiety burns my body. Towards the public, I am deeply ashamed of my lack of discretion... I would like to apologise to successive emperors and people by doing my best for reconstruction of the nation and people's happiness.
— Hirohito
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After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in Our Empire today, We have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure. We have ordered Our Government to communicate to the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that Our Empire accepts the provisions of their Joint Declaration.
— Hirohito
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To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of all nations as well as the security and well-being of Our subjects is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by Our Imperial Ancestors and which lies close to Our heart.
— Hirohito
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The hardships and sufferings to which Our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great. We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you. Our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is unsufferable.
— Hirohito
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Beware most strictly of any outbursts of emotion which may engender needless complications, or any fraternal contention and strike which may create confusion, lead you astray and cause you to lose the confidence of the world. Let the entire nation continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith in the imperishability of its sacred land, and mindful of its heavy burden of responsibility and of the long road before it.
— Hirohito
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Unite your total strength, to be devoted to construction for the future. Cultivate the ways of rectitude, foster nobility of spirit, and work with resolution — so that you may enhance the innate glory of the Imperial State and keep pace with the progress of the world.
— Hirohito
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I discovered freedom for the first time in England.
— Hirohito