A nationwide pilgrimage by Emperor Showa after the war.The distance traveled is 33,000 kilometers.
2022-01-18
Category:WWⅡ
Photo by Unknown Mainichi Shimbun (licensed under CC0 1.0 )
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Japanese Emperor visited MacArthur's office
Immediately after the war, the Emperor visits GHQ MacArthur's office.MacArthur thought Emperor came to ask for help in exile .It has never been seen in Western history that the head of state who lost the war remains in the country.It was common sense in the world to change dynasties, execute, and exile.Hitler has already committed suicide and Mussolini has been executed.
The head of state who gave up his life
The Emperor said to MacArthur, "No matter what happens to me, I want you to save the lives of the Japanese people "Surprised by this, MacArthur wrote in his memoir that his fundamental view of Japanese rule has changed.
After that, the Emperor will go on a nationwide tour.The purpose was to encourage each and every citizen by walking all over Japan.There was nothing the Emperor could do for the people during the occupation, and it was a conclusion that he was worried about.
It begins in the midst of a Far East military trial.GHQ disbanded japanese army and the people can throw stones at Emperor or hang him on the neck.In the confusion of the wilderness after the defeat.Walk in the places where anyone can kill you.It was a trip of the Emperor with that determination.
A nationwide pilgrimage of 33,000 kilometers
Touring in a crowd of tens of thousands of people, The total distance traveled nationwide is 33,000 km , and the total number of days is 165 days.There were only a few companions in GHQ.I was told that plants and trees will not grow in Hiroshima, where the atomic bomb was dropped.As a country, there was no knowledge of radioactivity at all, only rumors spread, and no one tried to get close except those who lived in Hiroshima.
In 1947, the Emperor was in Hiroshima.People were encouraged, and people other than Hiroshima changed their minds to think, "Now that the Emperor has come, Hiroshima should be fine."
MEMO It is said that many Japanese were brave to make a pilgrimage to post-war Japan, which became Yakinohara.
Emperor welcomed nationwide
The nationwide tour was far beyond GHQ's expectations.I don't understand #yellow #people welcoming me here and there, let alone a stone.Britain and other countries reported that the situation was surprising and spread throughout Europe.
The long tour ends with Hokkaido as the final stop.The only regret is that I couldn't visit Okinawa, which Emperor had hoped for all my life.His Majesty Akihito wanted to visit Okinawa where was under U.S.A.
POINT Western countries were surprised that the Japanese's love for the Emperor remained unchanged after the defeat.
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[related article]
Indian independence and Fujiwara Iwaichi's speech that touched Indian soldiers and Indian independence team.
Fujiwara Rock City, which supported Indian independence
Fujiwara who did not discriminate against Indians
Towards the liberation of India
Indian independence and Japan
Fujiwara declared as follows. ``If the Indian soldiers pledge allegiance to the liberation of their homeland and wish to join the Indian National Army, the Japanese military will stop treating them as prisoners of war, recognize their freedom to struggle, and provide them with full support.''
In February 1942, two days after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese army, approximately 50,000 Indian prisoners of war from the British and Indian forces gathered at Fara Park and were delighted by the speech given by Major Iwaichi Fujiwara. The 10,000-odd Indians who responded became the core of the later Indian independence movement.
Unlike the British, Major Fujiwara and others were admired by the people of India, who did not discriminate against people. He shared meals with Indian soldiers and had Indians lead them. While traveling in a car, Major Fujiwara began to fall asleep leaning against an Indian prisoner of war who had just surrendered, and the Indians were surprised at his lack of alertness.
India was under British colonial rule for approximately 190 years, starting with the rule of the East India Company. In addition to heavy taxes, they were forced to grow commercial crops, leading to food shortages and repeated large-scale famines that killed around 30 million people.
While racial discrimination was commonplace, Japan aimed to liberate Asia and supported Indian activists seeking independence.
Major Fujiwara was selected for this mission in September 1941. Major Fujiwara, who went to Thailand, made steady contact with Mr. Pritam Singh, an Indian independence activist, through his thin network of contacts, and succeeded in recruiting hundreds of Indian soldiers from the British Indian army. At the end of 1941, at the call of Major Fujiwara, the Indian National Army was established, headed by Captain Mohansingh, an Indian soldier.
On August 15, 1947, India gained independence from British rule.
There are 14 questions about the Nanjing massacre.Witnesses and trials that only raise questions.Let's count 100,000 people.
1. The Tokyo Tribunal and the Nanjing Military Tribunal were held at the same time, but 300,000 people were killed in the Nanjing Military Tribunal.In the Tokyo trial, there were more than 100,000 people who did not reach 200,000 people, but I wonder if the evidence was shared.What is the error between 100,000 and 200,000?
2.John Labe, a German who stood on the stand at the Tokyo trial, testified that 50,000 people were slaughtered. Where did this figure come from?How many 50,000 people have fled alone?Even if there are no obstacles at all, it will be hard work.If you have time to answer questions 1 and 2, try searching for and counting images of Michigan Stadium (107,601 seating capacity) .
3. More than 100 air strikes have been carried out against civilians, with 100,000 deaths per air raid.The first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 80,000 people and Nagasaki killed 60,000 people.At that time, there was a Japanese army in Nanjing that had more destructive power than the atom bomb.This is definitely the strongest army in the world.Then why did Japan lose the war?
4.Let's see how we can kill 300,000 people.Direct artillery and grenades such as tanks and cannons will not be effective for people fleeing in all directions.Then why don't you lock civilians in buildings that you can't escape?So I remember Auschwitz, the largest Jewish camp in the Nazis.However, the maximum capacity is only 20,000 people, so would it be possible to make more than 10 in three days?But how should civilians be taken there?
5.Reverend Maggie, an American who stood on the witness stand at the Tokyo trial, complained of slaughter, but when asked how many he actually saw, he found 1 murder, 1 rape and 1 theft.100,000 → 200,000 → 300,000 people were killed, and where was he?
6.When the Japanese army arrived in Nanjing, the Kuomintang commander left the army behind and panicked, dressed in casual clothes and dressed as civilians, fled to their homes to continue fighting.How should soldiers and civilians be distinguished?For good soldiers who continue to fight with civilians as shields.
7.The Nanjing Safety Zone records that most of the Nanjing citizens have evacuated to the Nanjing Safety Zone (non-combat zones under international law).And The Japanese military did not attack the Nanjing Safe Zone.The Nanjing Safe Zone testified, but who did the Japanese army kill?
8. John Rabe wrote in his later Rabe diary that he witnessed the killing of civilians by the Japanese army with Mosel guns.Mr. Rabe, please check one thing.At that time, there was no Moselle gun in Japan.This is a Chinese gun. And the Moselle gun is your motherland.Isn't it manufactured in Germany?
9.Rabe's diary says that the body of a woman with bamboo stuck in her genital organs is scattered everywhere.In Japan, there are cases of rape and murder of women, but there is no custom of stabbing bamboo in the genital organs.What country's custom is this?And whose work is it?
10.Before marching to Nanjing, there was a big battle in Shanghai.Defeated Chinese troops carried out scorched soil operations.It is a withdrawal that sets fire to the streets, robs money and goods, rapes, and leaves nothing to be gained even if enemy soldiers occupy it.At the same time, soldiers can get spoils even though they are defeated.It was an operation carried out by the Qing army, which fought and fled to the Korean Peninsula during the Gapsin Incident.
11. Nanjing Safety Zone was also a place to grasp the population of Nanjing.War refugees and others kept resident records to evacuate to the Nanjing Safe Zone and immigrate.The population recorded just before the Japanese attack on Nanjing was 200,000 .The Japanese military seems to have killed civilians over the population.
12. China's first unified family register management began in 1958 with the Doorway Registration Ordinance.Until then, China's population had accumulated only what it had recorded in its own way in the administrative divisions of the region, but there was no unified management was carried out.What kind of resident records did the Nanjing Military Court adopt?
13. Fifty-nine thousand people died in the Great East Japan Earthquake. How can you figure out the number of deaths?This is common in other large-scale disasters.It's not a foolish way to count dead bodies or adopt rumors.The number of deaths + missing + number of survivors = the current number of residents will be deducted from the increase in the number of new residents due to migration.Then, when the number of missing people is confirmed to be dead, it moves on to the number of deaths.Counting the number of victims of the earthquake with the naked eye?It's impossible.
14. The Nanjing Safe Zone record increased to 250,000 people in January of the following month.The number of civilians over the population has increased by 50,000 in a month.What kind of magic did the Japanese Army use?
There are many contradictions about the Nanjing incident.In the first place, the Far East Military Tribunal held at the same time and the Nanjing Military Tribunal are completely different.
Four Japanese soldiers, including Hiroo Onoda, who hid in the jungle of the Philippines and continued the operation for 29 years.
Hiroo Onoda: Entered Kurume Daiichi Army Preparatory Officer School in January 1944. In December of the same year, he was assigned to the 14th Area Army Intelligence Department, which was in charge of the Philippine Defense Campaign, and was dispatched to the Philippines with the duties of a remnant and commander of the game. The division commander, Lieutenant General Shizuo Yokoyama, said, "Break the jade is not at all . Do your best for 3 or 5 years. I will definitely pick you up. Be done. After the end of the war, the Japanese government knew from information from the Philippines that Japanese soldiers were hiding in the Jaguru on Lubang Island, and various search activities were carried out, but the four Japanese soldiers did not appear.
Yuichi Akatsu: He left the group in September 1949 and surrendered to the US military in June 1950.
Shoichi Shimada: He died in a shooting battle with the Philippine police force on May 7, 1954, when he was shot through his eyebrows. He is 41 years old.
Kinshichi Kozuka: He was shot in the shoulder and died in a shooting battle with the Philippine police force in January 1972. He is 51 years old.
The Filipino government searched for Japanese soldiers, sometimes in a shooting battle.
In 1974, Norio Suzuki, an adventurer inspired by search activities, visited Lubang Island and succeeded in contacting Onoda. In the conversation, Onoda tells him that he will surrender if instructed by his superior. Onoda, who had been hiding for 29 years, read newspaper articles left by the Japanese search team and knew information about Japan's postwar economic development. But then why he couldn't find the command system , and why he didn't command himself was the reason he didn't surrender.
Onoda will leave the jungle in response to an order to cancel the mission by his former superior, Taniguchi.
(1) Due to a great command, the armed group will be released from all operational actions.
(2) The staff member's group will be released from all duties according to Sakumei Ko No. 2003.
(3) Each unit belonging to the General Staff Department and the persons concerned are directly involved in the battle and the work is stopped. If you don't get it, you can contact the U.S. Army or the Philippine Army directly.
Even after Mr. Kotsuka passed away and became alone, his hiding life continued, and his duties were canceled by his former superior.
Emperor Showa's words saved Japan from a postwar food crisis that caused 10 million people to starve to death - MacArthur was moved
At a dinner hosted by former President Ford during his first state visit to the United States, Emperor Showa stated that he had longed to express his gratitude to the people of Japan in person. What does this mean? In 1945, the Pacific War ended, but by December, the year the war ended, Japan was in an extreme food shortage. As the year turned and the following year came, it was whispered that "10 million people will starve to death." Emperor Showa told Kenzo Matsumura, the Minister of Education, the following:
"It is said that if the deterioration of food supplies continues, many people will starve to death, but I cannot bear the idea of ??even more people starving to death, especially to our people who have suffered so much during the war.""The government has requested the United States to provide food, but it seems that the United States will not agree to this, but when you think about it, we have nothing to offer in return for food, so it is unavoidable. ""And so, I have heard that among the Imperial possessions there are a considerable number of items that are of international value. I have therefore ordered the director of the Imperial Museum to investigate and prepare a catalogue, which is shown here."I would like to give these to America as compensation, in exchange for food, to help stave off hunger for at least one day. I ask that you see to it.""
Matsumura was perplexed, but when he conveyed Emperor Showa's feelings to General MacArthur and presented him with a list of the Emperor's possessions, General MacArthur, who had already been touched by the Emperor's words in their first meeting, "I want you to help the people no matter what happens to me," said the following. "I understand very well what the Emperor is thinking, but neither I nor the United States can take away the Imperial possessions and provide food in return, even though it is a very kind request.""I would like to return this list to His Majesty. However, I fully understand the Emperor's feelings about the people. As long as I am in my current position, I will never allow any Japanese people to starve to death. I will definitely take measures to import food from the United States. I would like to ask His Majesty to rest assured." After returning the list, I told him that I would take measures to provide food aid from the United States.
GHQ stands for General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and the GHQ headquarters was established in a building that was formerly the Daiichi Seimei Building in Yurakucho, Tokyo. The end of the war was declared on August 15th with the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, and the GHQ headquarters was established on September 15th. Emperor Showa visited MacArthur at the United States Embassy in Japan on September 27th. At this time, MacArthur thought that Emperor Showa had come to beg for his life or to discuss defection. However, it is well known that Emperor Showa said that he didn't care what happened to him and asked MacArthur to help the people, which surprised MacArthur greatly. It is said that Emperor Showa's words had a great influence on the GHQ's later occupation governance policy. Emperor Showa later moved MacArthur's heart again, and the crisis of many Japanese people dying of starvation was averted.
GHQ had the role of investigating and verifying the history, causes, and purposes of Japan's war, as well as implementing occupation policies. Many people who were found to be war criminals in the Tokyo Trials served their sentences, and Japan was returned to the international community when the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, was issued the following year. On May 3 of the same year, MacArthur testified before the US Senate Joint Committee on Armed Services and Foreign Relations that Japan's purpose in starting the war was mostly for security. In other words, it was a war of self-defense.
It is known that the Potsdam Declaration originally included a provision to preserve the Emperor's status, but this was later deleted. At one point, America hoped for the Soviet Union to enter the war, but after Roosevelt's death, Truman, who would later become president, learned of the existence of the atomic bomb research, which was top secret, and it is said that he reworked the document to one that would not allow Japan to surrender. The preservation of the Emperor's status and the maintenance of the national polity were areas of concern for Japan, and America was well aware of this, so initially included the preservation of the Emperor's status. After that, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Emperor decided to accept the Potsdam Declaration. At this point, there was no guarantee that his life would be protected.
On September 26, 1971, Emperor Showa and Empress Showa stopped at Anchorage Airport in Alaska on a Japan Airlines plane to refuel during an official visit to Europe. This was Emperor Showa's first overseas trip after ascending to the throne, and the first place in history where an Emperor landed on foreign soil was Alaska in the United States. At that time, President Richard Nixon and his wife Patricia Nixon welcomed the Emperor and Empress to the runway. After the welcome speech and reply speech were exchanged in the hangar, the meeting took place at the residence of the Alaska District Commander, which was designated as a temporary guest house. This was the first meeting between an emperor and a US head of state, even before the war.
In 1975, Emperor Showa was invited by former President Ford as a state guest to the White House, and was there as a formal visitor to the US. Prior to this, the first state visit to Japan by a US president was made by former President Ford from November 18 to 22, 1974, the year before Emperor Showa's visit to the US. American public opinion had little interest in the visit of the Japanese emperor to the US, and it was never reported, but every American imagined that Emperor Showa would naturally harbor resentment towards the US. And at the White House dinner, the emperor gave the following speech:
"I have longed to visit your country for many years, and if that visit were to come true, I would like to convey the following to your people. That is, I would like to personally express my gratitude to your people for the warm kindness and assistance you extended to our country for the reconstruction immediately after that unfortunate war, which I deeply regret," he said. He then concluded by saying, "More than half of the people in both countries do not know about the last war. However, even if times change in the future, I believe that the generosity and goodwill of your people will be passed down among the Japanese people for a long time." The hall erupted in applause. In other words, he conveyed to the American people at this first state visit dinner as a sign of his gratitude for the time when he presented the Imperial family's gifts and requested food aid from MacArthur.
After that, this story was quickly spread across the United States, and the Japanese Emperor's visit to the United States was reported on the front page of newspapers for six consecutive days. This event took place 30 years after the end of the war.
Emperor Showa was born on April 29, 1901, and in 1941, Japan entered the Great War with the declaration of war. Even after the defeat, Japan experienced high economic growth during the Showa era, becoming the second largest economic power in the world. With the death of Emperor Showa on January 7, 1989, the Showa era was succeeded by the Heisei era.
The Meiji era began with the Boshin War, and after the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, Japan annexed Korea. During the Taisho era, Japan participated in World War I, and as a permanent member of the League of Nations, it sat at the center of the world table. The Showa era was the longest reign of an emperor, lasting 62 years, and it can be said to have been a turbulent era that saw the Great War, high economic growth, and the country's rise to become an economic superpower.