Therefore he was given the utmost respect and yes at one time
subjects were not allowed to look directly at the Emperor.
The first time the Japanese people had ever even heard the Emperor's
voice was at the time of the surrender to the US after WWII.
This is part of the reason Truman felt he had no option but to drop the bomb
on Japan.
The Japanese people saw their Emperor as God and all of his orders
must be obeyed with no questions asked, no doubt, no hesitation.
As the American soldiers fought across the Pacific to invade Japan as the goal,
and neared Tokyo, the emperor ordered all men, women, children and older people
to fight to the death when invaded. Women and even young children were given
fighting lessons including sword tactics, etc.
The emperor had given the same order to the male Japanese soldiers fighting in the Pacific.
The fighting was particularly brutal and resulted in 36 million dead, soldiers and civilians
just in the Pacific theater of war.
So the American invasion of Japan would have been a blood bath with the American GIs fighting against women and kids.
Two million at the minimum estimated dead. Because the emperor had ordered fight to the death against
the Americans.
I was against Truman dropping the bomb until I started studying WWII and looked at the facts.
I still wish there had been another way.
I lived in Japan for a big chunk of my childhood during the Viet Nam war due to being a military kid.
I loved Japan, the people, the customs, all of it. They are an extremely bright and clever people.
Also artistic, very clean and neat, polite and well mannered. To this day I love all things Asian.
I will be signing up for a Japanese flower arranging class soon. Not just to learn to arrange flowers
but to hang around Japanese culture and feel right at home.
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