or Shōwa emperor
born April 29, 1901, Tokyo, Japan
died Jan. 7, 1989, Tokyo
Longest-reigning of Japan's monarchs (1926–89).
His rule coincided with Japan's 20th-century militarism and its aggression against China and Southeast Asia and in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Though the Meiji Constitution invested the emperor with supreme authority, in practice he merely ratified the policies formulated by his ministers and advisers. Historians have debated whether Hirohito could have diverted Japan from its militaristic path and what responsibility he should bear for the actions of the government and military during the war. In August 1945 he broke the precedent of imperial silence when he made a national radio broadcast to announce Japan's surrender, and in 1946 he made a second broadcast to repudiate the traditional quasi-divine status of Japan's emperors. See also Shōwa period .