he role of emperor, along with Hirohito, who had occupied the position since 1926. The status of emperor is truly unique to Western thought, for Hirohito laid claim to being a direct descendent of the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Much of the fanatical behavior of Japanese soldiers lay in the fact that “the way of the subject is to be loyal to the Emperor in disregard of self, thereby supporting the Imperial Throne coextensive with the Heavens and with the Earth.” With his support, much like Ayatollah Khoemeni , the Pacific War was raised to the level of the Islamic jihad, or “holy war.” While many within the states called for his indictment on war crimes, General MacArthur saw to it that his role in Japan’s aggression was never really questioned. While it’s certain that MacArthur exaggerated the difficulty that would encompass the removal of the emperor, his logic in keeping Hirohito in place was sound: with a familiar figurehead in place, Hirohito would be used as a new symbol of democracy and peace by the U.S. Separating from the state the Shinto religion, and ridding Japan of the imperial government, MacArthur would use Hirohito as a measure of control. One of the demands required of him, though, was the infamous “Declaration of Humanity” that occurred on New Years Day, 1946. In the final revision Hirohito, while claiming to not have been a “god” in a sense, never denied that he was a descendent of the sun goddess as set forth by the Meiji constitution of 1868. While Hirohito was being exonerated of war crimes, guilt was place on a relatively small group of Japanese leaders. With the Nuremberg Trials as its only precedent, the Tokyo war-crime trials expanded the rules of what was and wasn’t acceptable in war. As put forth by the Potsdam Declaration, “stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon ou...
