Hirohito

Hirohito on his white horse, during an army
inspection, 1938

7 of January, 1989 the Japanese emperor Hirohito died. He had then been emperor since 1926, and led the country trough the most important parts of the 20th century.

When Hirohito became emperor, Japan had already become a great nation, with one of the worlds best economic situations and biggest and most advanced armies. He led the country the same way as those before him, and even though Hirohito had limited powers, he was the head of Japan during the Second World War, which they lost. After the war, he was not sentenced for war crimes, and remained emperor. And it's his reign after the war he is remembered for. Despite his role during the war, he became a symbol of the new Japan, a Japan that rose up from the ash, and became the second largest economy in the world.