In 1952, when Japan regained its sovereignty after the war, it turned out that several personal letters exchanged between the Pope and Emperor Showa were kept in the Vatican.
The Pope celebrated the restoration of Japan's sovereignty, and Emperor Showa expressed his gratitude. I think it's a valuable historical document.
The archives contained several personal letters exchanged between Pope Pius XII and Emperor Showa in 1952. Professor Saho Matsumoto of Nihon University, who specializes in international political history, wrote the Apostolic Documents of the Vatican, where the Holy See is located. I investigated and confirmed the confidential documents that were made public the year before yesterday at the mansion.
Among these, in a personal letter from Pope Pius XII to Emperor Showa in October 1952, the San Francisco Peace Treaty went into effect in April of that year, and Japan regained sovereignty. It contains words to celebrate the coming-of-age ceremony.
In response to this, Emperor Showa wrote in his personal letter, "I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Imperial Family and the people of Japan for their congratulations."
According to the Showa Tenno Jitsuroku, in October 1941, two months before the start of the Pacific War, Emperor Showa said, ``It is necessary to thoroughly consider the means of ending the war from the beginning. We need to establish a relationship,” he said.
Professor Matsumoto said, ``It was speculated from historical background that Emperor Showa and the Pope had exchanged after the end of the war, but the discovery of historical materials that can actually confirm this suggests that the relationship between the two countries after the war has changed. It is of great significance in the study of
Professor Matsumoto will present these personal letters at a symposium on Japan and the Vatican held in Tokyo on the 12th.