The shock of Emperor Showa "Worship" September 17th 18:04

This summer report Emperor Showa “Haetsuki”. This precious document, which recorded almost the entire conversation between Emperor Showa and the Secretary of the Imperial Household Agency for nearly five years in a closed room, had interesting descriptions other than those introduced in the news and programs. I would like to introduce a little more to the part where the consent of the bereaved is obtained. (Reporter of the Emperor Showa “Worship Record”, Social Affairs Reporter Takaharu Suzuki)

Encounter with "Worship Record"

As a result of negotiations with the bereaved family who had been kept secret for many years, we were allowed to read in November last year.

It was written down by Michiji Tajima, the head of the Imperial Household Agency and its predecessor, Miyauchi Prefecture, for five and a half years from the year following the enactment of the Constitution of Japan to the year following the restoration of Japan's independence. The real voice of Emperor Showa during the occupation and independence of the postwar period was marked.

“When I happened to have a terrible thing in Nanjing because of a strange incident, I was n’t sure what to do.”
“It ’s better to revise (constitutionally) the only point of arms without touching other amendments.”

The dialogue between Emperor Showa and Secretary Tajima, which was revived after 70 years after the seal was released, is so vivid that there are many things that are difficult to accept.

We have created a project team with experts in modern history that are conducting empirical research based on historical materials, and proceeded with deciphering and analyzing, especially with rich descriptions and clear meaning and context. The five themes that should be called the skeletons of “Ki” were mainly reported in news and programs.

(1) Deep repentance and remorse for the war that could not be spoken (2) Troubles and unknown exchanges over the absurd issue (3) The appearance of the early exploration of the “Emperor of Symbol” (4) Necessity of re-arrangement and constitutional amendment A statement that repeats sex (5) An episode showing the Emperor Showa

"Tajima historical materials" to fill the blank period of historical materials

Tajima is known for having recorded many records, and part of the “Michiji Tajima Diary” and “Michiji Tajima Related Documents” have already been revealed.

Of these, the diary was written extensively in a small notebook and well represented Tajima's honest personality that he kept the diary just before his death even if he was on a sickbed.

Tajima's diary, which was listed as the source of various descriptions in the official record collection of Emperor Showa, compiled by the Imperial Household Agency, is a precious existence in the post-war “history blank period”, but Tajima's own movements and visits Due to the nature of the diary of recording the other party and the limited paper width of several lines per day, in fact, the real voice of Emperor Showa is hardly recorded. In addition, even if such remarks are written down, there are many cases where it is not possible to specify who remarks only with a short phrase without a subject.

“Memo Ma” Tajima's true value The amount of overwhelming real voice written

On the other hand, “Worship Record”, which was found this time, is specialized in recording the conversation between Emperor Showa and Secretary Tajima and the perception at that time. Formerly known as the “Tajima Memo” and the Tajima family kept it, journalists, researchers, and the Imperial Household Agency have not been allowed to browse this historical material until now. It was.

There is also a description about the phantom “Hearing Record”

An interesting description written in the book of worship. One of them is related to a phantom historical material that has been considered one of the most important documents of Showa history but has not yet been discovered.

Emperor Showa's "Listen". If you are a history lover, you should have heard of its existence. After the end of the war, Emperor Showa recalled the events related to the Great War, and his aides wrote it down.

It is known that the Emperor Showa's retrospective hearing was repeated not only immediately after the end of the war but also until the late Showa 60th year, including the time of Secretary Tajima.

Of these, the content of the hearing that was conducted as part of the Tokyo trial measures the year after the end of the war, in 1947, was released as a “Showa Emperor Monologue” and entered the Heisei era.

These hearings, such as the close diary and the Emperor Showa memoirs, revealed the overall time and themes, etc., but the details of how the hearings were conducted at each time point The contents were unknown. However, this time, from the description of “Worship Record”, the background and background of the hearings conducted during the time of Secretary Tajima became clear.

Emperor Showa published a memorandum !?

The following exchange was recorded in the worship record on January 4, 1951.

Emperor Showa
(About the diary of Koichi Kido, who served as a Minister during the war and was imprisoned as a Class A war criminal in the Tokyo Trial) "Slightly different Ivy Momoisurushi (* original mom) Hanuga reference tomonari or the world's people nemo truth part some misunderstandings misunderstandings misunderstandings

(About his own memoirs that Tajima allowed to read on the day of the appointment of the Secretary of the Imperial Household in 1948) “I am a memorandum of text, Nadokusuto, Nisashi Sashite,” (* Memoa = Memoirs. thing)

Secretary Tajima
`` The Majesty's Memoir Tofu Monoga Mashite Shina No Maki Kanari Kotoha Nana One Moire Masurka One Annoyance Mohri Emperor Mosari Toshi Teeha What Is A Thousand Thre `` Thinking about the kino point, the seraremasenuto, and simultaneously, the shireleva emperor toshite, how do you think about it?

The existence of an emperor's memoir that looked back before and during the war was already known, but it was surprising that Emperor Showa had proposed to announce it.

Emperor Showa, who was rushed by Secretary Tajima and rethinked, hopes to tell the public the truth he knows every time a book about events before or during the war is published or the contents of the diaries of the people concerned are published. Continued.

"If you have a note, not a public announcement"

In the service on May 28, 1947, Secretary Tajima asked the Emperor Showa about various events before and during the war.

Secretary Tajima
“In addition to your minister's note that I got permission to see at the time of my death, I think that it would be fine to keep the minister as a reminder rather than an announcement to the outside.”

Emperor Showa
"It's fine to get people, but it's fine if you can do it. / Memory and things are not reliable. There is no difference, but if you ask something and talk about it, there are six things. "

Secretary Tajima
“I would like to ask you for your history, but I would like to ask you for your future history. "

Secretary Tajima proposed to the Emperor to create a new “Hearing Record”. At the time, he was asking for a record of his recollections for the Emperor, who was 18 years old and a young first-year prince.

"The sincerity is 100 years from now ..."

This kind of exchange is also held in the worship service on October 24, 1927 ...

Secretary Tajima
“I know that His Majesty ’s own recollections will be realized after the 100 years of His Majesty.”
"It is to ask about the things that are coming out of books and colors, and to record their thoughts. It is not possible to announce them immediately, but it is necessary to leave them."

Emperor Showa
"Kido Diary Ha. Only the conclusion is suddenly written, the progress history leading to it is not written, the unsatisfactory Harada Diary is also written only the progress, and I do not know at all how the outcome was."

“Need to preserve in the middle for future generations”

In addition, in the worship service on January 27, 1958, Emperor Showa was the father of Gosho Hosokawa, who was published at the time, and was the father of former Prime Minister Goho Hosokawa, who was close to Takamatsunomiya and Konoe Bungei. It was written that Mr. Tajima stated the following in response to

"I don't think there is a need for the Majesty to tell the public that it is true, no matter what is written, but it is not necessary. I think it is necessary to preserve the records in this book and the records that pointed out the actual situation. ''
"I think that it is necessary to take the records of the next generation and write down the memories of His Majesty related to it."

The Showa Emperor's memoirs describe that the recollections of the Zhangsaku bombing incident and the London Naval Disarmament Conference were actually held three times from May to June 1964. In "The record", it was written that Mr. Tajima was in charge of hearing twice during the absence of the person in charge.

You can understand the contents of "Hearing Record" from the worship record

Prof. Takahisa Furukawa of Nihon University, who specializes in modern and contemporary Japanese history, analyzed the “Worship Record”.

Prof. Furukawa: I think it is the most straightforward to think of Emperor Showa as a kind of reaction that cannot be described in the table. If Emperor Showa had been abducted, what he wanted to do after that was probably the creation of a memoir. I think that I thought that it would be useful for a later person to record a reflection and a retrospect to the fact that I was in such an important scene and failed. It is very important for Emperor Showa to repeatedly talk to Secretary Tajima, so it is definitely included in the "Hearing Book". Although the “Hearing Record” itself has not been found, not only can the background of its creation be understood from the description of the worship book, but the written contents can also be inferred considerably.

A surprising description of the mystery of the post-war occupation period

The main feature of “Worship Record” is that it directly records the conversation flow between Emperor Showa and Secretary Tajima. Not only the important theme of the imperial family, which is the center of the topic at that time, but also a part that is sometimes stunned in the part where the various topics are talked about indiscriminately or derailed. It is.

In the worship record on November 11, 1964, when Emperor Showa talked about his relationship with the United States, he said, “The negligence of the American side…” It is written.

Emperor Showa
“One minister of affairs, but the Matsukawa incident happened because of the Communist Party in the United States, but the commander was apologizing to the Socialist Party because he had negligently managed the filth.”

The Matsukawa Incident is an incident in the summer of 1974 where the railroad track was removed by someone on the former Tohoku Line in Matsukawa-cho, Fukushima City, the train that passed through was derailed and capsized, and three crew members died.

Twenty people, including trade union leaders, were arrested and prosecuted, and all were convicted in the first instance, including the death penalty, but 14 years after the incident, all were acquitted. It is "the biggest post-war encroachment after the war", which is said to be "the three major national mysteries" because the truth has not yet been revealed, one after another at the same time as the "Shimoyama Incident" and "Mitaka Incident" .

According to the analyst who analyzed it, “The meaning of the filth is unknown, but because the Minister of Justice reports to the Emperor, it is not a rumor that the grounds are unknown, but it is a story brought to the Japanese investigative authorities from the United States. While this was the first historical material to support the conspiracy theories that had been spoken without ground, it was a shocking story, but this statement alone cannot be used to evaluate it. "You should be careful," or "You should wait for future research that will be triggered by this historical material."

Secretary Tajima seems to be confused after hearing this story, and notes the surprise in his notebook.

“Tajima's first ears and willingness will not be as comfortable as the Yanagijo Groove Incident”

“The Lake Yanagi Incident” triggered the Manchurian Incident. It was written that the plot case where the railway was set was overlapped with the Matsukawa case.

However, because the description of the day was written on the last page of the notebook, Tajima finished it briefly as "A summary of this day's article c into consideration" and unfortunately it is more detailed than this Is not marked.

The door to the truth has been opened

A 330-hour closed-room conversation between Emperor Showa and Secretary Tajima in a turbulent era when Japan, which had started again under the new constitution, recovered from independence and recovered its independence. What was spoken there was not only the cornerstone of the symbolic emperor system, but also the various issues that lie in modern Japan, such as the issue of Article 9 of the Constitution, the Japan-US security system, and the US military base.

Michiharu Tajima, who tried to incinerate the record of this out-of-doors before getting on the deathbed, listened to his son's persuasion, "Don't treat it badly, so leave it unburned" "Remained miraculously.

And the generation of the children who inherited it, “I understand that I tried to burn the worship book, but that my grandfather accepted the persuasion and stopped burning it was eventually made public as a part of history. I decided to lift the seal that I kept for nearly 70 years according to NHK coverage.

The Tajima family will move the remaining materials, such as “Worship Record,” to a public institution and plan to release it.

The door has already been opened. In the future, “Worship Record” will be the subject of historical research along with “Michiharu Tajima Diary”, which still has plenty of room for research, and the truth of Showa history that is unknown to the hands of many experts will be further revealed. I will go.

Social department reporter Takaharu Suzuki

Joined in 2002 After working at the Hakodate Station, he was in charge of prosecution and the Imperial Household Agency in the social department. Covered specials for abandonment and coronation, published the Emperor Showa memoir, and reviewed the black painting of the Emperor Taisho.