Unlock the mystery of Japan Part-2
====== Unlocking the mystery of Japan Part-1 ===============
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Now, I want to show you a very interesting true story about Emperor Hirohito, the most famous Japanese Emperor known for 2nd World War.
What I am about to tell you is a true story that defines the meaning of Japanese Emperor. This episode was documented and published by many books not only in Japan but also described in an autobiography of Douglas MacArthur and in his interpreter Faubion Bowers’s testimony.
When Japan lost 2nd World War, United Nation of GHQ came to Tokyo. The entire Tokyo was burnt ground from bombings raid by US. The chief executive of GHQ was Douglas MacArthur. He was the man in charge of everything that included the fate of Japan. And he arrested 39 war criminals in just 10 days after his arrival without giving a warning to Japanese government.
What surprised us most was that despite the war was conducted by Japanese government, which means Japanese government had all responsibilities for the war, Emperor Hirohito visited the GHQ office with only one interpreter. No bodyguard, only himself and the interpreter. Emperor Hirohito was labeled as a war criminal by US congress and Japanese Imperial family members were next to be captured sooner or later. But Hirohito brought only himself with the interpreter to GHQ office. He could get captured and sentenced to death by GHQ. It was a ridiculously guardless act for him but Hirohito didn’t care about his life then.
Soon Emperor Hirohito was ushered to meet Douglas MacArthur.
MacArthur was thinking that Emperor Hirohito came here to beg for his life just like German Emperor Kaiser did and said “It wasn’t my intention. People did it all by themselves, so please save my life” to US Army during 1st World War. However, contrary to his expectation, what Emperor Hirohito said before him was, “I am an Emperor of Japan. I have all responsibilities involved in the war. Everything was all done for my life so no Japanese soldier is a war criminal. You can hang me or give any maximum punishment to me. I already have made up my mind for that. However, those innocent 80 million people no longer have houses to live, foods to eat, clothes to wear, my heart aches for that. So please give houses, clothes, and foods to the people in your mercy.”
Emperor Hirohito actually didn’t get involved in the war or Japanese Army but he insisted he did so he thought he could save Japanese soldiers in exchange for his life.
In Douglas MacArthur’s autobiography, he described the episode like this. “I was very stunned and moved by his courage. And I found out he was the most precious man in Japan”
Faubion Bowers, US major and interpreter, was there by MacArthur and was excitingly confessing the episode during the interview by Japanese TV program.
You can watch his confession on YouTube from the link below.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inE1DSH0jrk
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He says in video “Migawari” which in Japanese means “scapegoat”. So he was saying that Emperor Hirohito was attempting to sacrifice his life as a scapegoat to save all Japanese people. MacArthur said he’d never seen any Emperor or King or man of power like Hirohito.
After meeting Emperor Hirohito, MacArthur got totally changed the way he looked at Japan.
Even though there were requests from US congress and Russia to give death penalty to Emperor Hirohito, MacArthur kept refusing the requests saying that there was no reason to do that. And MacArthur reversely requested US to send foods and clothes to Japan and saved a lot of Japanese people.
MacArthur met Emperor Hirohito 11 times during six year of his stay in Japan but nobody knows what they talked about because whenever Emperor Hirohito was asked to say what he talked about, he always said “It’s a man’s promise to never tell, so I never can say a word.”
In the eyes of westerners and Chinese and Koreans, Emperor Hirohito might look to be a dictator governing Japan, but he was nothing but just a pope of Japanese religion ‘Shin-to’. And he was as a pope trying to save the lives of Japanese people on behalf of Japanese gods when being asked to take responsibilities by the victorious countries..
I read old Japanese fairy tales when I was a kid. And those fairy tales had many episodes that villagers got saved by Japanese gods. Emperor Hirohito was playing the role of exactly the same thing as Japanese gods did in fairy tales without hesitation to sacrifice his life for people when being pressed by UN.
When I first time read the episode, it really broke my heart in tears. And I think this was the same feeling MacArthur had. MacArthur became pro-Japan after spending six years in Japan.
Now you know, Japanese Emperor is totally different from any Emperor or King in the world. Emperors and Kings think people are just consumable products and think Emperors and Kings are the most important men. That's why they don't care people getting killed for themselves but Japanese Emperor was opposite. Japanese Emperor didn't hesitate to sacrifice his life for saving people's lives. Why? Because he was a pope even before he was an Emperor
I hope Chinese and Koreans can someday understand the fundamental difference of Japanese Emperor and definition of Japanese Emperor.
Also, Japanese culture is all based on ‘Shin-to’. Annual events, traditional fashion, customs and even Sumo wrestling are the parts of Shinto culture.
Even though Japan is an island and adjacent to Korea and China, the reason Japan has been totally different from Korea and China is because of Shinto. Shinto is what sets Japanese people apart from Chinese and Korean people.
Just for information. In Shin-to, the highest ranked Japanese god is female called 'Amaterasu'.
In next series, I will explain what kind of influence each country had from cultural differences.
Continues to Part-3
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http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2144977577971233701?&page=1
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