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The Second Showa Era was very long. Emperor Hirohito live for over four decades after the end of the Pacific War. As a result of Japan's defeat in the horrendous Pacific War, huge constitutional changes occurred during the American occupation. These were largely mandated by Gen. MacArthur and his staff. One of the most important change was a fundamental alteration in the role of the emperor ending his role a worshipped diety and turning him into a largely ceremonial figure. This was readily accepted by Emoeror Hirohito, in large measure because he thought he was about to be arrested and hanged as a hugely responsible war criminal. Which would have been fully justified. This in turn allowed MacArthur to mandate fundamental changes in Japanese society which were for the most part accepted without major opposition by the Japanese public because the Emperor enthusiastically endorsed them. Without that endorsement, the reforms would have been much more diddicult to implement. Among those changes were a major reordering of Japanese education. The militarism and emperor worship on which Japanese education had been centered was ended. We see that visually in the schools. Primary boys stopped wearing Japanese Army uniforms, although the Prussian cadet uniforms and sailor outfits persisted, mostly in the secondary schools. The Meiji Imperail Rescript disappeared from Japanese Schools. The schools now incculcated the virtues of a peaceful, democratic society. What the schools did no do, especially after the occupation ended (1952) was to teach that Japan had launced an gressive war and tht the Japanese Army had committed unimagianable atrocities in the name of the Japnese people. We beliece it best here shift our coveragethe dynastic imperial reigns to the more conventional decade assessments.
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