Weenieschnitzel
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- Apr 19, 2004
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Silvergirl said:I think you're being confused by wartime propaganda. Hirohito was only a figurehead. This is how the Imperial Household (called the Kunaicho) operates, and has operated for centuries in regards to the Imperial Family and their line;
The oppinions of the Emperor are not allowed to be mentioned to anyone, he's not supposed to have any oppinion about anything. He's merely there and is beyond all material matters, being too sacred to bother with such things. Anyone who says something like "The Emperor said this" is immediately reprimanded very severely and gagged. The Imperial Household has always controlled the Emperors, and everything in their daily lives is restricted. It has been like this for centuries, aand it is doubtful that even after the Meiji Restoration and the constitution that *on paper* made the Emperor as "supreme ruler", that any of the Emperors had any real power of their own despite what so many outsiders seem to think or were told.
Japanese people know all this as general knowledge, but in the USA, UK, and Australia, the power of the Japanese emperors was misrepresented by wartime propaganda. That wartime propaganda has been distorting the perception of the Japanese emperors in the West for decades since. They aren't like the royal family of England, and they don't have real power. It's most likely that when Hirohito made the announcement of Japan's surrender, it had to be with authorisation from the Kunaicho (the Imperial Household).
Very interesting. Thank you.
I can imagine, that this description is not very useful for any propaganda purposes.
And propaganda is required to keep the nation quiet (Saddams ABC-weapons for example).
btw: good morning to our readers of the NSA.