The Emperor Showa "Worship Record" was acquired.

A first-class document approaching the real image of Emperor's grandfather, Emperor Showa. NHK has obtained the “Worship Book” in which the first Secretary of the Imperial Household Office wrote down the dialogue with Emperor Showa for nearly five years. From that description, Emperor Showa repeatedly talked about his regrets about the war and wished to express his deepest regret and remorse to the people at a ceremony celebrating Japan's independence recovery seven years after the end of the war. In response to Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, I found that the passage was cut. The expert who analyzed it says, “The Emperor Showa has never talked about the repentance and reflection of the war in his public life, and he was surprised to talk about his deep regret” The

Words of regret to repeat

The book of “Worship” was written by Michiji Tajima, the first secretary of the National Household Agency from the private sector, for five and a half years from 1948 under the Constitution of Japan created after the war. , Served as the head of the Imperial Household Agency and its predecessor Miyanai Prefecture.

Mr. Tajima has written down the details of the exchanges with Emperor Showa and the situation at that time in 18 books, including notebooks and notebooks, for nearly five years from the year following the appointment of the Commissioner. NHK provided by the bereaved family I analyzed with several experts of modern history.

From that description, the Emperor Showa looked back on the path that led to the defeat against Mr. Tajima many times, expressing that the army was moving freely, `` Shimojogami '', `` If you think, you can not eradicate Shimojojo quickly "It was because everyone was unable to stop the military forces", "When the Tojo Cabinet was in the process of being sick, it was no longer possible to do anything." I understood that I was speaking the word repeatedly.

"Reflexion" which was particular about

Furthermore, Emperor Showa stated his words at a ceremony celebrating the recovery of Japan's independence on May 3, 1927, after the San Francisco Peace Treaty entered into force. I realized that I was keen to express my feelings of reflection in front of the people.

The process of studying over a year has been written in the “Worship Book”, and Emperor Showa (January 11, 1927) says, “I really need to put my reflection on the letter,” says Tajima. Speaking to the Secretary (February 20, 1954), recognizing that there are a lot of reflections, and that the military, the government, and the people all missed the military and the military. "I want you to write all the meanings of the upcoming incidents well if you don't want to repeat them because there are bad things," he said.

Repentance for the deleted war

At that time, Japan was smoldering the abduction of Emperor Showa as reconstruction progressed.

Prime Minister Yoshida, who asked for opinions from Secretary Tajima, said, “There is a danger of being responsible for the beginning of the war.” “Today is the earliest (no longer) war or defeat. “I feel like I do n’t want to have it someday,” he said, and all the passages of Emperor Showa's regret about the war were deleted.

Emperor Showa repeatedly complained to Secretary Tajima, but finally followed the Prime Minister's opinion as a “symbol” established by the Constitution.

Expert "A heavy record for those living in modern times"

Prof. Takahisa Furukawa of Nihon University, who specializes in the history of Japanese modernism that analyzed the “Worship Record”, said, “In retrospect, we reconsidered why we made a mistake in an important aspect. I think that the word that I wanted to add to my words was becoming stronger. ”

After that, "The first time the new constitution was made, the chances that I could speak in a certain degree were the words that came into effect in the peace treaty. I would like to apologize and reflect on the issue of war somewhere. It ’s clear that this is the starting point and the best motivation. ”

In addition, “It may be a process of learning how to behave as a symbolic emperor, but for the Emperor Showa, it is a painful process, or it can be recognized that this must be done in the future. I think that the bitter memories of that time were bigger, and then, at the press conference, the important thing was "I can't say", which is a sign that it was dragging the feelings of pain at this time. In that sense, it was a very heavy experience for Emperor Showa. ”

“All that appears in the book of worship eventually led to Japan losing after a reckless war. The emperor changed from a pre-war sovereign to a symbol. The restriction was made because of the defeat, and the official responsible was the Emperor Showa. ”

And, “The worship record is not a record that tells us that the war in Showa is renewing recognition in many ways to us living in the present age, and that we should not forget. I said.