Jottings from the Granite Studio

Interesting weekend for Japanese history:

December 23 is a public holiday in Japan to celebrate the official birthday of the reigning emperor, Akihito. Akihito used the occasion of his 73rd birthday today to remind Japanese not to forget the lessons of World War II nor forget those who died in the conflict, especially the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The emperor also has a bit to celebrate this year with the birth of his first grandson, Prince Hisahito back on September 6. The imperial household clearly hopes Hisahito’s birth to the reigning emperor’s youngest son will spare them a protracted and messy constitutional battle over the question of female succession. Through September of this year, the “heir apparently” was crown prince Naruhito’s only child, Princess Aiko.

First, there have been empresses in the past. Deal with it. Second, you gotta feel for Aiko who went from “constitutional crisis/symbol of Japanese girl power” to “best connected 5-year old in Kyoto” in the span of a week. You’ve seen how petty and competitive parents can get at a spelling bee or a little league game–now imagine there’s a throne at stake. We haven’t heard the last of this debate.

This weekend also marks the 80^th anniversary of the accession of Hirohito, Akihito’s father, to the throne. On December 25, 1926 the Taishō Emperor, Yoshihito, died suddenly of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 47. Nevertheless, Hirohito was no stranger to the duties required. Only 25 at the time, he had already served for several years as Prince Regent before he officially took power because his father, Yoshihito, had throught his life suffered from a neurological disorder that affected his mental state. In a famous and oft repeated incident, Yoshihito took a copy of a speech he was to read to the 1913 opening session of the Diet, rolled it up like a telescope, and then peered around the room with it as the members of his government looked on in horror. For most of his reign Yoshihito was kept behind the palace walls so that the severity of his condition could be hidden.

Probably the best known of Japan’s emperors in the West, it was Hirohito who on August 15, 1945 addressed the Japanese people over the radio and announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allied Powers. It probably saved his life.

Others were not as lucky. On December 23, 1948, seven former Japanese leaders were hanged at Sugamo Prison after being convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal. Among them: Hideki Tojo. Tojo gets lumped in with Hitler and Mussolini, thanks in large part to Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series. But in reality, Tojo only wished he had the personal or political power power of Hitler or even Mussolini. He was always first among equals and sometimes not even that. I’m not saying that Tojo wasn’t a bad guy. After all, he got his start as an officer in one of the shadiest and sketchiest military outfits the world has ever seen: The Kwangtung Army. But as prime minister, Tojo had difficulty getting things done. The Japanese government was a squabbling mess and this might have even prolonged the conflict by months if not years as nobody was willing to break free of the crowd and simply declare the war lost.

Finally, December 24th is the anniversary of the death of Toshirō Mifune (1920-1997), one of the world’s great actors, whose name will probably always be linked with that of Akira Kurosawa. Mifune starred in some of Kurosawa’s most famous pictures including the classics Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Rashomon. Something I just learned today: Though his parents were Japanese, Mifune was actually born in Qingdao, grew up in Dalian, and was pretty fluent in Chinese at a young age.

Oh yeah, and if you see a star to the west this weekend…just start walking. Ask questions later. Bring gifts.