On January 7, 1989, Emperor Hirohito of Japan died at the Fukigami Imperial Palace. Surprisingly, China** was also invited to his funeral. However, when asked about the funeral of the culprit of the large-scale aggression against China during World War II, the Chinese delegation responded with only four words, which made countless Japanese bow their heads.
So, what exactly did the Chinese delegation say? Why did the notorious executioner enjoy such a grand funeral?
Emperor Hirohito, as the grandson of Emperor Meiji, was favored and had high hopes since childhood. Due to his father's chronic illness, Emperor Meiji fostered him in the home of Vice Admiral Junyoshi Kawamura to exercise his body and mind, and appointed Nogi Noshinori, a meat bullet general, as his teacher.
Influenced by these two, Hirohito admired force since he was a child and had a lonely personality. After the death of Emperor Meiji, Nogi Noshinori took his own decision, which greatly stimulated Hirohito, until 1914, when he entered the Tonomiya Imperial Academy, where he was taught by General Heihachiro Togo, who had a strong militaristic atmosphere, and gradually moved towards the path of militarism.
In 1921, Hirohito embarked on a year-long tour of Europe, leaving footprints in five countries: the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy.
While studying the Western political system, he developed a keen interest in military affairs. He not only visited the monuments of the First World War, but also regarded Napoleon as an idol, and personally visited Napoleon's cemetery, and even brought back a bust of Napoleon and placed it in his study.
This trip to Europe also allowed Hirohito to gain the allegiance of more than a dozen Japanese military attachés stationed in Europe, laying the foundation for his later seizure of military power from the hands of military elders.
In 1926, Emperor Taisho died, and Hirohito ascended the throne as the new emperor, and the era name was Showa. In 1928, with the help of assassinations by radicals, Hirohito removed opposition minister Yoshiichi Tanaka.
In 1935, he further strengthened his control over the military department, cultivated a young general loyal to him, and took control of the entire Japanese army. Hirohito's ambitions were exposed during this period, and large-scale acts of war began.
On July 7, 1937, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and Japan invaded China in a frenzy, and most of East Asia quickly fell. War Minister Sugiyama assured Hirohito that the war in China would end within a month.
Hirohito was encouraged to hear this, and further increased his support for the military department. However, after a bloody struggle fought by our country, Japan's vain attempt to launch a decisive battle never succeeded, and the idea of destroying China in January finally came to naught.
However, Hirohito did not give up, he began to command in person, and suggested concentrating a large number of forces to deliver an overwhelming blow in the fortified area. It was thanks to Hirohito's suggestion that Japanese troops began to gather in large numbers near Shanghai, and then Shanghai fell and the Japanese army entered the city of Nanjing.
Hirohito's indulgence of King Hatohiko of Asakanomiya led to the terrible "Nanjing Da**" on the day when the Japanese army invaded Nanjing, and Hirohito was still praising and condolences to the Japanese army and navy officers, which undoubtedly intensified the arrogance of the Japanese army.
In 1940, the Japanese army was mired in war, and although it brought great suffering to the Chinese, their economic losses were not small. In 1941, Hirohito personally instructed the Japanese Navy to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which severely damaged the U.S. Navy in one fell swoop and achieved a brilliant victory in Southeast Asia.
However, the news of the defeat at the Battle of Midway sent Hirohito into a panic, and the ensuing situation was beyond his control.
In the deteriorating situation in the Southwest Pacific, Emperor Hirohito's panic and poor decision-making led to a series of defeats for the Japanese army. In the decisive battle of the Philippines, he changed the location of the decisive battle due to false information, resulting in an unprecedented defeat for the Japanese army.
In addition to this, Hirohito also showed his hypocritical side in the following battles. On the one hand, he expressed his intolerance for the "kamikaze attack", and on the other hand, he affirmed it.
During the Battle of Okinawa, Hirohito even forced the Navy to carry out the Yamato Suicide Charge, which was a shocking extension of suicide attacks to the naval domain. However, at the final stage of the war, Hirohito was already intent on surrendering, but still wished to retain the Japanese emperor system.
He emphasized "conditional surrender" in the negotiations, but in the end, his illusions were ruthlessly shattered by the US military.
It turned out that the bombing of Tokyo had terrified Hirohito, and the two atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had brought him to despair. He accepted the Potsdam Proclamation at the Imperial Council and decided to surrender unconditionally, but he was still discussing with War Minister Anan Yuji in the hope of preserving the country.
In the end, Anami Yuki and others chose to commit suicide, and Hideki Tojo and others were put on trial, but Hirohito, the biggest promoter of the war of aggression, survived under the protection of the United States and retained the emperor system, which made people deeply angry.
So why did the United States shelter Japan and Emperor Hirohito? The answer is profit.
After the war in Japan, the Soviet Union and other countries strongly advocated the abolition of the emperor system and the defeat of militarism, but the United States had other plans. The United States wanted to support an ally of its own in East Asia to stabilize the postwar situation, so they decided to keep the Japanese emperor as an instrument of rule over Japan in order to avoid unnecessary conflict in Japan.
In World War II, MacArthur and the rest of the United States** emphasized that Emperor Hirohito did not bear primary responsibility. With these words, MacArthur and the U.S. military won widespread popularity in Japan.
After the American occupation of Japan, MacArthur even became the de facto ruler of Japan.
Although the Japanese emperor is a national symbol in the constitution, his influence on politics is still far-reaching. In his later years, Emperor Hirohito focused almost exclusively on two things: to avoid responsibility for defeat, and to bear the pressure of responsibility for defeat.
In order to clear his suspicion, he even wrote two memoirs, "Bai Transcript" and "Innocence", claiming that he was only an adviser to the ministers and had no real power. However, his refusal to issue an edict at the end of the war to further mobilize the people showed his determination to evade responsibility for the defeat.
Hirohito's rhetoric caused discontent among many Japanese, especially in the fifties and sixties after the war, when their ** marches and activities against security regulations continued. Students at Kyoto University even spoke out against Hirohito during his speech, much to Hirohito's great embarrassment.
Until the mid-70s of the last century, there were Japanese reporters who poked Hirohito's sore spot and questioned him about his views on war responsibility and the atomic bomb issue, so that Hirohito could only change the topic in a hurry.
Hirohito's missions to Europe were also often met with anger. He was thrown a gasoline bottle while walking on the road, attended an event to plant a tree and the sapling was dumped with sulfuric acid, and was even called a bastard by Europeans in Japanese on the road.
However, all this can be said to be Hirohito's own fault. However, despite the fact that the Japanese, who had been extremely dissatisfied with Hirohito, actually held a grand funeral for Hirohito on January 7, 1989, after he died of rectal cancer, and invited our country to attend.
What's going on?
There are three main reasons for Hirohito's changing image among the Japanese. First of all, Japan has tampered with history and distorted the truth. After World War II, it was not only Hirohito who wanted to evade responsibility, but also Japan.
In order to conceal their identity as aggressors, they even falsified history and wrote history textbooks full of lies, portraying Japan as a country that upholds the common prosperity of Greater East Asia, and that the war was forced to start and should be forgiven.
Against this background, it is only natural that the attitude of the Japanese towards Hirohito will also change.
Second, under the influence of Japanese culture, the people generally have a strong mentality of worshipping the strong. This kind of mentality of worshiping the strong is actually an unwarranted admiration for the powerful, for example, Japan has always respected the samurai very much, because the samurai have great power.
In addition, Japan also admired countries such as Europe and the United States, because these countries defeated Japan in the war and demonstrated great military strength. As a result, many Japanese people have a sense of admiration for Hirohito.
Although he failed in World War II, these people believe that Hirohito's crimes against Hirohito have been forgotten because of the fact that he had once prompted Japan to expand its territory and achieved great advantages in the early stages of the war.
Third, Japan's militarist ideology has not been completely eliminated. In World War II, although Japan was a defeated country, it only superficially accepted sanctions, and the fanatical and belligerent atmosphere is still buried in the hearts of many Japanese.
Japan's post-war economic depression and environmental depression provided the soil for militaristic thinking. After the death of Emperor Hirohito, millions of people took to the streets to commemorate not the emperor, but the suppressed militaristic ideology.
Japan's unwillingness to admit its mistakes has prevented China and Japan from having in-depth exchanges, even though they have broken the ice.
At that time, Emperor Hirohito was seen as the culprit behind the war of aggression against China and should have been punished in the same way as Hideki Tojo and others, but things were complicated by the intervention of the United States.
Japan initially rejected Japan's invitation, but Japan forwarded invitations through other countries, and finally decided to attend due to the international environment. After arriving in Japan, ***, who attended the funeral as a special envoy, he immediately sent four words to Japan: face up to history.
These four words are concise and clear, which not only shows China's demeanor as a big country, but also warns Japan not to try to cover up the truth with false history, and not to challenge the bottom line of the Chinese.
These four words made the faces of the Japanese representatives stiffen, and many reception staff even lowered their heads in shame.
There is a solid historical fact that Japan has inflicted deep suffering on the Chinese people in its war of aggression against China, but it is truly a shame that Japan still deceives itself against this background.
As the popular saying goes, "The German who kneels is also nobler than the Japanese who stand." Germany, as one of the main culprits of World War II, not only accepted the demands of various countries for compensation after the war, but also shocked the world with the actions of West German Chancellor Brandt during the "Warsaw Kneeling" in 1970.
As Brandt himself said, "In the face of those sufferings that cannot be expressed in words, all I can do is what one should do, to the best of my ability".
Lacking the consciousness of reflection, Japan has tampered with textbooks, visited the Yasukuni Shrine, and refused to admit past crimes. My country has warned them to face up to history or they will be condemned forever by the world.
This incident should also arouse our vigilance, and we must always bear in mind the historical truth and prevent the resurgence of militarism; only in this way can we be worthy of the sacrifices of our ancestors and cherish today's peace.