Evening star., 1951-04-25
Japanese Have FoundNewLfe,
|Hirohito Still Has Great Power
Generals Policies in Occupation Prevented
People From Giving Trouble in Korea War

ipresS then entered this room, ant
there was a moment of bowinl
and ehandshaking. ! was thel
placed next to the Empress OF
one side, and my wife was givel
a position next to the Emperor OF
the other. Each conversation tool
place independently. Madam,
Takagi. chief lady in waiting
translated for me, and Mr.. Matsu
of the Foreign Office for my wife
After 20 minutes a signal wa
given, and my wife and changet
places; she then talked with tn,
Empress and Madame Takagi
while ] moved over next to tht
Emperor and Mr.. Matsui. There
was no opportunity, except brief!
at the end, for general converse.
ton. The audience lasted so min.
utes in all. I had, in other words
about half an hour with the EN-.
|peror. Il
Empress Once Was Pretty.
The empress was the eldes
daughter Of Prince Kuninomiya
her blood was noble. but she wa.
not membersof the great Fuki.
wara family which, by a tradition
1900 years old, was the solt
family group out of which al
empress might be chosen, Bu
Hirohito fell in love with hel
when he was a youth, persisted
in his suit against serious op.
position. and finally married her
They have six surviving children
Empress Nagako was once, il
was obvious, an extremely pretty
woman: now she has become
somewhat stout. Her eyes, under
heavy slanting lids, are veritablt
Sits in an oval, ivory face:
thought she was the most typi.
cally Japanese" woman I hae
ever seen. She laughed q greaI
deal as we talked, and viyidly
described some of her problem.
with her children. She was in
terested in the life of American
women, and mentioned with re,
gret that she had never met Mrs
Macarthur and her son.
The Emperor keeps his eye.
cast down when he speaks, ar1c
expresses his opinions with a firm.
ness and vigor that surprised me
He is stockily built and youthful
looking; he wears thick glasses
and shakes hands with muscula,
energy. He has a slight tic which
is unobtrusive. He wore Westerr
clothes, an old suit Of greyisf
tweed; a garter kept slipping dowr
one leg. Direct quotation Of thu
emperor's remarks is, of course
not allowed. But it may be sale
that he has pungent, discriminat.
ing views on a considerable variety
OF subjects. and expresses them
with great pith. I have never met
a king who did not, no matter
what his circumstances. convex
an instructive atmosphere of com.
mand. And I am assured that h
is. quite in order for me to give
my impression" of what some
of Hirohito's opinions were.
He thinks, 50, 4 gathered. thai
our democratization or Japan vii,
endure after the occupation ends
but that japanese democracy will
be Of its own special type, perhap,
quite different from that which
exists in England or America
that Gen. Macarthur, whom ht
admires extravagantly, has done
IA magnificent, epochal job, anc
had not (as is sometimes charged
hurried things to much; that aftel
the peace treaty Japan will mani.
festly need military protection
so that it can remain secure
against both external and inter.
nal pressures. and that the last
war, which he wholeheartedly
laments, was a tragedy which hi
did everything possible to pre-.
vent. This last point was the one
he stressed most. Then we talkec
about the United States.
A few days before we saw Hiro.
Ihito I heard an irreverent Amer.
lean call him a celestial zero, &
spook. I do not believe that thi!
is true. My feeling, for what it il
worth, is that the Emperor is {
parsonage of powerful will anc
intelligence, who for good or il
may still play commanding role
in the future of Japan.
Tomorrow: The record of the
occupation.
(From the book, THE RIDDLE OF Mac
ARTHUR, published by Harper and Bros