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UCAN PROFILE - DEATH OF EMPEROR HIROHITO BRINGS SHOWA ERA TO A CLOSE

Updated: January 10, 1989 05:00 PM GMT
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The death of the Emperor Showa, the name by which Emperor Hirohito will be known in history, was hardly unexpected when it happened.

Even his most indifferent or hostile subjects would easily agree that his death in the early hours of Jan. 7 was indeed a momentous event which has brought to an end an extraordinary and complex period of Japanese history.

Appropriately, Japanese reaction has been both complex and ambivalent.

On the one hand, we have seen a remnant of the old secrecy -- the "chrysanthemum curtain" that falls between the imperial family and the people -- and the use of official lies.

The Imperial Household announced that the emperor´s illness was still "critical" when he in fact had already died, and acknowledgement of his demise was released almost one and a half hours after it actually happened.

The Chief Court Physician also admitted that he had lied to the nation when he stated that no cancer cells had been detected in Hirohito´s medical examination September 1987.

On the other hand, several thousand people phoned television stations to protest the cancellation of their favorite programs, while rental of video cassettes skyrocketed.

Nonetheless, millions of other Japanese sincerely mourn the passing of "the first gentleman of Japan," as U.S. General Douglas MacArthur called Hirohito after their first encounter, impressed more by his nobility of heart than by the unbroken lineage of his throne.

Whether Hirohito was responsible for the military adventurism of his government in Asia, or whether he could have ended the war before the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has been and will be debated, perhaps without ever reaching a convincing conclusion.

Emperors either weak, absolute or symbolic have come and gone in the long history of the nation, and it is far from easy to define the exact role played by each of them. As the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Japan said on the occasion of the emperor´s death, "only God can judge a person´s life."

The life of Hirohito was, in many ways, tragic.

He was a victim even in early infancy when he was separated from his family to be treated by chamberlains as the "divine" successor to the throne.

He was then to preside over the crumbling of the throne, the first military defeat of his country after the atomic holocaust and the dismantling of the divinity myth handed to him.

How much he suffered through all these changes, nobody knows.

He never uttered a word to defend himself or to justify his deeds.

He went to his death in silence, leaving the impression that he would have changed his exalted position for a simple life. It was sad to hear him reminiscing on his stay in Europe in 1921, as his "happiest memories in life."

In the last 40 years of his reign, he performed his ceremonial role conscientiously, with a profound sense of duty.

He even refused to watch Japanese "sumo" wrestling (his favorite sport) on television until 5 p.m. when the ordinary Japanese technically ends the work day.

The image of a benign, fragile and myopic old man bent over specimens of plants and fish has superseded the figure of the military commander on horseback who inevitably had to bear responsibility for "the wars waged in his name," as the Japanese bishops said.

Nothing will change in the realm of hard politics or economic performance because of his death. A few rightists will try to use his demise to advance the cause of a Shinto resurgence, and a few leftists will take the occasion to attack the emperor system.

It was Hirohito´s fate to be used and abused in life, and perhaps he will be subject to this also in his death.

However, the political and economic stance of Japan will hardly notice that "the symbol of the nation and of the unity of the people" has changed.

The Emperor has died. Long live the Emperor!

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(by Jose M. de Vera, S.J. Jesuit Father Jose M. de Vera, a Spanish missioner for more than 30 years in Japan, teaches communications at Sophia University in Tokyo.)

END

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