Hirohito Death
Emperor Hirohito, the last of the World War II leaders and Japan's longest-reigning monarch, died today at the Imperial Palace. He was 87 years old.
In his 62-year reign, the Emperor presided over the most tumultuous era in Japan's modern history, although like most of the 123 emperors before him, he watched more than he acted. During his reign, his nation embraced militarism, conquered much of Asia, waged war on the Allied Powers, suffered the world's first atomic bombing, and painfully rebuilt, rising in just four decades to become the world's most vibrant economic power.
Hirohito's death came at 6:33 A.M. (4:33 P.M. Friday, Eastern standard time) after more than a year of declining health. He had been confined to his bed for more than three months.
"Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, dressed in a black suit with black armbands, said: 'The sad news of the passing of His late Majesty the Emperor has left me grief-stricken. Our sincere prayers for his recovery were in vain, and I am at a loss for words'" (Hirohito,1)
This is a direct recorded quote from when Hirohito's death was announced. Hirohito died from cancer of the duodenum, a section of the small intestine. The Emperor himself did not know that he had this cancer because it is tradition for the people in Japan to not be told that they had this disease so that they can live life without having to freak out. The doctors had only figured it out that he had Cancer when they had to do a procedure on his Pancreas. After his death his son, Akihito, became Emperor. The modern day Japan honors Hirohito's family. If it wasn't for him japan would be a United States owned country and everything would be different, and still to this day everyone who was alive then misses him and honors him greatly.