Divinity with Microscope

(See front cover)

Earnest, black-mustached, ivory-spectacled Hirohito is not Emperor of Japan by the grace of God. Rather his people conceive that their country is an Empire by His grace. Last week this extraordinary personage, adored as the "Son of Heaven," faced firmly one of the most involved and ominous crises since his reign began six years ago.

Hirohito was not crowned. Instead, upon his father's death in 1926 he assumed protection of Japan's three Sacred Treasures: The Sword which commands "Be Brave!" The Jewel which says "Enlighten thyself!" and the Most Sacred Mirror of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu-Omikami which enjoins "Know thyself!"

In November 1928 the Son of Heaven was not only enthroned as Japan's Emperor. He also ascended "The August High Seat" as the Shinto Pope. But neither as Pope nor as Emperor is Hirohito first in Japanese hearts. His unique position derives from the fact that Japanese believe they are all descended from the Sun Goddess but he in the direct line of 124 Emperors. Thus Japanese revere their Son of Heaven as the corporeal head and spiritual father of the national family. Their language abounds in such maxims as "Judges enforce the Law but the Emperor does Justice." As a divine being the Son of Heaven can no more do wrong than Jehovah or Allah. Nevertheless, last week in Japan his recent acts were under unusually close scrutiny.

"National Government." After the assassination of Premier Ki ("Old Fox") Inukai amid a welter of national resentment against "corrupt politicians" (TIME, May 23), Emperor Hirohito commanded Admiral Viscount Saito to form a new Cabinet. When this Cabinet was formed last week it proved to be a "National Government" (as in Great Britain) but almost as full of so-called "corrupt politicians" as the last Seiyukai Party Cabinet headed by "Old Fox." Specifically the Japanese national family was surprised that the Army and the Treasury have been left in exactly the same hands as before.

Since Premier Inukai had been assassinated by men of the fighting services, Japanese public opinion assumed that War Minister Lieut.-General Sadao Araki must hand in his resignation, demanded by Japanese custom. Instead General Araki took the line that Premier Inukai had been assassinated by cadets and therefore it would be sufficient if General Nobuyoshi Muto, Director of Military Education, should resign. This he did--and was promptly raised to membership in the Supreme War Council. Meanwhile the police continued to hold secret the names of the assassins of Premier Inukai who voluntarily gave themselves up. From the first, strong Tokyo rumors have insisted that not all of these young men are cadets, that one or more are junior officers of Japan's regular Army.

Also scandalous was the retention as Finance Minister of Korekiyo Takahashi, right hand man of "Old Fox," who served as Acting Premier directly after the assassination. In the new Cabinet slate as a whole, four ministers are of the Seiyukai ("Old Fox") Party, three represent the Minseito Oppositions, one represents the House of Peers. The term "Specialist" was officially used last week to describe the new Premier and the three members of his Cabinet representing the Army, Navy and Justice.

The New Cabinet:

Premier & Foreign Minister--Admiral Viscount Makoto Saito ("Specialist").

War--Lieut.-General Sadao Araki ("Specialist").

Navy--Admiral Keisuke Okada ("Specialist").

Finance--Mr. Korekiyo Takahashi (Seiyukai).

Home Affairs--Baron Tatsuo Yamamoto (Minseito).

Commerce & Industry--Baron Kuma-kichi Nakajima (House of Peers).

Justice--Matsukichi Koyama ("Specialist").

Education--Ichiro Hatoyama (Seiyukai).

Oversees Affairs--Ryutaro Nagai (Minseito).

Communications--Hiroshi Minami (Seiyukai).

Agriculture--Fumio Goto (Minseito).

Railways--Chuzo Mitsuchi (Seiyukai).

Tersely Tokyo's leading Conservative newspaper, Jiji Shimpo, commented: "The new Cabinet cannot be expected to accomplish anything more than its predecessor.* This impression is gained from the fact that Mr. Takahashi is remaining, while the Premier has indicated there will be no change in policy. Our warning to the new Cabinet is that unless a change of financial policy is formulated, going one step further than the preceding government, the new Cabinet cannot be expected to succeed in extricating the country from its present difficulties."

Even less optimistic was Tokyo's Liberal Asahi Shimbun which snorted that "the new Cabinet's members are mostly men of respectable careers but aged and with little vitality to fight the pending national difficulties."

Major difficulties are 1) the colossal cost of trying to police Manchuria (three times larger than Japan) and 2) the collapse of Japanese silk prices, made catastrophic by the fall of the yen. The Imperial Diet was summoned last week to meet early in June and seemed certain to vote the additional 200 million yen demanded by the fighting services. But silk and the yen presented terrific obstacles. Desperate, the Japanese Sericulturists' Association petitioned the new Government to cancel the sale of huge silk holdings by the old Government at prices "below the Market" to Manhattan's E. Gerli & Co., who have posted a guarantee bond of $5,000.000.

Up Satsuma! Searching for the raison d'etre of the Cabinet so inauspiciously formed, Japanese pronounced the talismanic word "Satsuma."

Average Occidentals who possess an old piece of almost any kind of Oriental pottery are apt to believe firmly that it is "antique Satsuma." Connoisseurs reject as probably spurious any large piece, since the ancient Satsuma craftsmen whose work is so highly prized confined themselves almost exclusively to small pieces distinguished first by their lustrous glaze, second by the extreme thinness of the hairlike crackle lines and finally by the jewel-like glow and brilliance of the minutely intricate enamel painting. Nearly all "antique Satsuma" sold today is spurious, distinguished first by lustreless colors which result from artificial aging and second by crackles wide enough to have rubbled into them the grime of spurious centuries. Modern Satsuma when offered frankly as such is generally an excellent buy in Japan, reflects ever fresh glory on the ancient Clan Satsuma. It was this clan of statesmen and warriors (for pottery making is but a Satsuma sideline) which Japanese suspected last week of a deft and daring move to dominate the Empire by wangling into office the present Cabinet.

Satsuma Empress, In the new Cabinet Baron Yamamoto, the Home Minister, is a Satsuma. In Japan it is an axiom that "The Home Ministry makes the election." Why did the Son of Heaven consent to a Satsuma in this key post? Court gossip had it last week that Emperor HirohitO' and his ancient adviser Prince Saionji, 83, had both been swayed by another adviser who is the Son of Heaven's close friend, Count Makino, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal--a Satsuma.

For that matter so is Her Majesty the Empress a Satsuma. Last week Japanese, always inclined to read the present from the past, discussed the new Cabinet and the current Japanese crisis in terms of the 31-year-old Emperor's career, recalled that he has always been in his quiet way a precedent smasher and that the first major precedent he smashed was to marry for love outside the strict circle of Japan's Five Eligible Families.

Good Sport-Japan's Imperial House has no name. On April 29, 1901 the present Emperor was born and named Hirohito while his grandfather the great Emperor Meiji was yet alive. Because his father was strong neither in body nor in mind (though he begot four lusty sons), Prince Hirohito was thrust into every form of sport, even wrestling. Justly and modestly he has observed: "I am not really good at any sport. In swimming, however, I rather think I can hold my own."

To mold his mind into stern channels the young Prince received as his first tutor General Nogi, famed for his bloody capture of Port Arthur. When Emperor Meiji died, Tutor Nogi impressed his pupil by reviving the custom of junshi (''following in death"). He and Mrs. Nogi committed harakiri. Two years later the Crown Prince received a: tutor the resolute Admiral Togo who had destroyed the entire Russian fleet at the Battle of the Sea of Japan and who remains alive to this day, telling the tale.

Love! Love! Japanese insist on nothing more firmly than that Prince Hirohito engaged in a struggle with Field Marshal Prince Yamagata, the foremost military figure of Japan's Renaissance, who opposed his desire to marry "for love" the present Empress Nagako. During this struggle a whispering campaign had it that one of the Satsuma maiden's great-aunts was colorblind.

To help H. I. H. in his contest with the Field Marshal, 15,000 young Japanese males formed a Prayer Club, prayed for the love match on all & sundry occasions. The struggle ended with the resignation of two members of the Imperial Household Ministry, announcement of the engagement and humiliation for Field Marshal Prince Yamagata. Facts are that in eight years of married life the Empress Nagako has borne no son, no Crown Prince, but four daughters of whom one has died. Thus Japan's Crown Prince is still the Emperor's brother, sportsmanly Prince Chichibu who figure-skates, baseballs, golfs, fences.

Round the World-Before he won his right to marry for love Japan's present Emperor was sent on a European cruise as Crown Prince. In this astounding rupture of precedent--for in 2.581 years no Prince Imperial had voyaged any considerable distance from Japan--public opinion was sharply divided. One hundred young men offered the Crown Prince a bargain: If he would stay in Japan they would pay for this boon by committing hara-kiri all together.

No bargainer, H. I. H. sailed early in 1921 for Great Britain, traditional ally of Japan. At London's Guildhall, attempting to read a speech from a long roll of paper he got it twisted, but as Japanese reverently recall, "with perfect calm His Imperial Highness mastered the paper and mastered his audience" which had shown signs of exploding into mirth. After a round of golf with Edward of Wales the score cards of both Crown Princes were torn up. Incognito in a London subway the divine being was challenged by a cockney conductor, could produce no ticket, removed his hat and accepted politely a thoroughgoing rebuke while his Japanese entourage stood speechless, frozen with horror at the ghastly sacrilege. Quick as they could they rushed their charge back to the protection of King George & Queen Mary in Buckingham Palace.

In Paris, after a courtesy visit with President Alexandre Millerand, the young Crown Prince again caused consternation by wanting to make a purchase for himself in a department store. This was impossible since up to that time no member of the Imperial Family was permitted by etiquet to carry or even touch money. When the pretty Paris salesgirl refused to sell for nothing, members of H. I. H.'s suite hastily intervened, saved the situation, whisked him on his way to an audience with Pope Benedict XV. But a final adventure remained, a last chance for the Crown Prince to break precedent and show his spunk.

At Gibraltar he was escorted to a horse race and insisted upon betting. This would not have been so bad, from the Japanese viewpoint, had the horse lost--but it won! Quite unconscious of the sacrilege a U. S. citizen who had placed the bet for H. I. H. approached him and cheerfully offered a fat bundle of Bank of England notes.

"With rare presence of mind and exquisite tact," wrote one Japanese correspondent, "His Imperial Highness took the bundle, handing it at once to Admiral

Oguri in order that it might be properly dealt with."*

Banzai! During the Crown Prince's circumnavigation a strange thing was happening in Japan. Up to his departure pictures of a future sovereign had always been barred from vulgar circulation by decree. Two Tokyo newspapers clubbed together and secured permission to make movies of the tour on condition that no admission be charged at showings of the films. Millions of Japanese swarmed in to watch closely for the first time in their lives a member of the Imperial House. At showings of the films they shouted "Banzai!" ("May you live 10,000 years!"). Nevertheless when Crown Prince Hirohito actually returned to Japan the police issued stern orders that he was to be greeted "in the traditional way"--in total silence --the awed subjects keeping their eyes upon the ground.

Just as the Crown Prince stepped ashore mass discipline cracked. "Banzai! roared the crowd in a delirium of fealty. "Banzai! Banzai! BANZAI!"

Since then, Japanese crowds have cheered the Son of Heaven whenever he appears; but upper-story blinds are still drawn "that no one may look down upon the Emperor;" and fresh sand is sprinkled ahead of the Imperial Limousine (cherry red & black with the Imperial chrysanthemum in gold on either door)./-

Enlightened Peace. Each Japanese Emperor chooses the name of his reign and the present Son of Heaven chose Showa or "Enlightened Peace."

"I have visited the battlefields of the World War," he has said, "and in the presence of such devastation I understood the blessings of peace, the necessity of concord among nations!"

Such fervent words and the speaker's reputation for breaking with outworn precedent, caused many Japanese writers to predict a few years ago that Emperor Hirohito would indeed rule with "Enlightened Peace." They predicted also that he would strengthen Japan's comparatively young system of rule by political parties. Parliament and a Cabinet (as opposed to rule by the clans, the Army and the Navy).

Instead, the Army has now launched itself into Manchuria and is still hanging on (see p. 21). The Navy clumsily assaulted Shanghai without hindrance from His Majesty (TIME, Feb. 1). Indiscriminate, fanatical assassinations have swept to death in less than a year some of Japan's best statesmen and some of her worst (TIME, Sept. 7). Finally in the forming of a Cabinet last week the Son of Heaven took a hedged position, neither for nor against Japanese Parliamentarianism, a middling position described by 20th Century Japanese in terms of a momentary victory for the feudal Satsuma Clan.

With the national crisis clearly still unsolved, Japanese pondered the traditional theory that national successes are "due to the virtue of the Emperor." In these days of Depression they recalled the words of the late, great Meiji Emperor after the discovery of an anarchist plot against him. Said this revered Sovereign to his Premier, Viscount Katsura:

"Who would take the life of a God? If there is some plot against my person, it must be that I have not perfectly practiced the divine virtues. Unless something was lacking within me, none would have dared it."

"Do you know," said Katsura afterward to his friend Dr. Nitobe, "the Emperor really believes in and is endeavoring to fulfill his responsibilities as a God!"

What Emperor Hirohito really believes about his official divinity is His Majesty's business. Significantly he has indicated as "my favorite photograph" a picture of himself in a dark business suit seated at a table on which stands an emblem of Science and 20th Century truth: a microscope.

* Presumably by deposit to the account of the vastly rich Imperial Household Ministry which owns, among other things, 60% of the stock in Tokyo's sumptuous and candidly named Imperial Hotel.

/-Japanese who hope and trust that TIME readers will show every respect to His Majesty have made the following request: let copies of the present issue lie face upward on all tables: let no object be placed upon the likeness of the Emperor, shown in his sacred enthronement regalia.

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