Figure 1.--As a young man, Prince Hirohito made a world tour to introduce him to other countries. Britain was a major port of call. In a photograph taken in London, we see Crown Prince Hirohito riding in a carriage with King George V of England. The photograph was taken on May 9, 1921. Prince Hirohito looks to be wearing a Japanese Army uniform. |
As a young man, Prince Hirohito made a world tour to introduce him to other countries. Britain was a major port of call. In a photograph taken in London, we see Crown Prince Hirohito
riding in a carriage with King George V of England. The youthful prince had just
completed his teen years, having turned 20 less than two weeks earlier.
Hirohito was born on the 29th of April, 1901; the London photograph was taken
on May 9, 1921. According to Hirohito's most recent biographer, the
Crown Prince learned nothing about constitutional monarchy from George V;
rather, he got lessons from the English monarch on how to use his royal
position as a means of strengthening Japanese nationalism as George V did
behind the scenes in England in an age when in Europe monarchical powers were
becoming increasingly symbolic rather than poliical. Like his host George V,
the crown prince wears an imperial military uniform with a decorated cap, a
sash, medals, and white gloves. The occasion was a parade through the streets
of London.
Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (New York:
Harper Collins, 2000).
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