Kyodo News
Shinobu Kobayashi was the Emperor's chamberlain from April 1974 until June 2000, when Empress Kōjun died. Kobayashi kept a diary with near-daily remarks of Hirohito for 26 years. It was made public on Wednesday 22 August 2018. The rare diary was borrowed from Kobayashi's family by Kyodo News and analyzed by Kyodo News with writer and history expert of the Shōwa era Kazutoshi Hando and nonfiction writer Masayasu Hosaka. Here are some quotes from the diary: