Bhäraté: Well, Hirohito was not my hero.
Daiki: Most people will probably never know the actual man behind the symbol.
Chariya: It's meaningless to discuss the Japanese emperor without also considering the broader historical context. Shortly after his birth, some type of collision between Japan and the West seemed inevitable.
An-Yi: That sounds like a glib endorsement of the atrocities perpetuated under Hirohito's name.
Bhäraté: Fascism and colonialism have certainly caused unspeakable misery. The only point I would make is that we should not feel self-righteous: every civilization is guilty of misdeeds.
Chariya: Yeah. Too many people point their fingers at others for sins which – at some point in time – they have committed themselves.
Daiki: On hindsight, Hirohito seems to have many of the contradictions inherent in all humans. At various times in his life, he was a militarist, politician, marine biologist, and a retiring old man. Was he not a mosaic?
Hirohito - a graphic manipulation by T Newfields
Hirohito

Whose hero was Hirohito Hironomiya?
Was he worth dying for?
Was he a puppet propped up by imperialists –
or point of a holy sword?

Once
God to sixty million
in dashing uniform
surrounded by tanks
Mitsubishi fighters
and gold chrysanthemums

Now
a tiny pot of ash
in an oversized grave

that little Mickey Mouse lover
conquered half the world
for nearly a thousand days