Hirohito Quotes
What a reckless war that would be!
There was much political Japanese opposition to attacking the United States. Most military judgments were that Japan could not win such a war. The militarist hawks in the Japanese leadership argued that while Japan might not be able to defeat the U. S., Japan could not be defeated in the Pacific. And the U. S. would not spend the money to rebuild their navy of the Japanese could destroy most of the capital ships with surprise attack. Therefore starting a war might provide the opportunity to negotiate for more favorable terms and less pressure, boycotting, and castigation of Japan by the United States and they could come out with control of a number of lands of the Pacific. However, the Naval Chief of Staff told the Emperor that war ight be inevitable as America or Great Britain might attack one of the Japanese held territories and force Japan into war. Later, the Japanese conservatives and Militarist hawks, were able to purge opponents of war from the Cabinet, and when they had control of the government, convinced the Emperor to flip flop, and started WWII with the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
Hirohito, 1901-1990, Emperor of Japan, Reply to Naval Chief of Staff who reported that the chances that Japan could win a war with America is very slim, July 1941, Quoted in Eri Hotta, Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Ellsworth was pleading for resolving the slavery issue then.
Emperor Shōwa, better known in English by his personal name Hirohito (裕仁), was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, ruling over the Empire of Japan from 25 December 1926 until 2 May 1947, after which he was Emperor of the state of Japan until his death. He was succeeded by his fifth child and eldest son, Akihito. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had seven children, two sons and five daughters. By 1979, Hirohito was the only monarch in the world with the title "emperor." Hirohito was the longest-lived and longest-reigning historical Japanese emperor and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world.
