Editing Hirohito (section)

===Public figure===
[[File:Emperor Showa visit to Hiroshima in 1947.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Emperor Hirohito visiting [[Hiroshima]] in 1947. The domed [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial]] can be seen in the background.]]

He was not only the first reigning Japanese emperor to visit foreign countries, but also the first to meet an American president.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Hirohito |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hirohito |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=25 April 2023}}</ref><ref>『皇族 天皇家の近現代史』小田部雄次 中公新書 2011</ref> His status and image became strongly positive in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brands |first=Hal |title=The Emperor's New Clothes: American Views of Hirohito after World War II |journal=Historian |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=1–28 |year=2006 |s2cid=145812761 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.2006.00133.x}}</ref>

====Visit to Europe====
[[File:Emperor Shōwa and Nixon 1971.jpg|thumb|upright=0.81|left|Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako with U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Pat Nixon]] in [[Anchorage]] (27 September 1971)]]
[[File:Tweedaags bezoek Keizer Hirohito en Keizerin Nagako a an Nederland, Keizer en Ke, Bestanddeelnr 925-0238.jpg|thumb|upright|Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako arriving in the [[Netherlands]] (8 October 1971)]]

The talks between Emperor Hirohito and President Nixon were not planned at the outset, because initially the stop in the United States was only for refueling to visit Europe. However, the meeting was decided in a hurry at the request of the United States. Although the Japanese side accepted the request, [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] [[Takeo Fukuda]] made a public telephone call to the Japanese ambassador to the United States [[Nobuhiko Ushiba]], who promoted talks, saying, "that will cause me a great deal of trouble. We want to correct the perceptions of the other party." At that time, Foreign Minister Fukuda was worried that President Nixon's talks with Hirohito would be used to repair the deteriorating [[Japan–U.S. relations]], and he was concerned that the premise of the symbolic emperor system could fluctuate.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ja:米側の昭和天皇政治利用に外相が「迷惑千万」 外交文書公開 |date=7 March 2013 |url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/130307/plc13030711450008-n1.htm |access-date=7 March 2013 |publisher=MSN産経ニュース |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310040504/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/130307/plc13030711450008-n1.htm |archive-date=10 March 2013 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.toyoeiwa.ac.jp/daigakuin/k_i_column/kyoin/kyoin_hiroshimasuda_01.html |script-title=ja:外交文書公開に関する備忘録｜教員からのメッセージ｜教員・院生からのメッセージ｜東洋英和女学院大学大学院 |website=www.toyoeiwa.ac.jp |language=ja}}</ref>

There was an early visit with deep royal exchanges in Denmark and Belgium. In France, Hirohito was warmly welcomed, and reunited with [[Edward VIII]], who had [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdicated]] in 1936 and was virtually in exile, and they chatted for a while. However, protests were held in Britain and the Netherlands by veterans who had served in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II]] and civilian victims of the brutal occupation there. In the Netherlands, raw eggs and vacuum flasks were thrown. The protest was so severe that Empress Nagako, who accompanied the Emperor, was exhausted. In the United Kingdom, protestors stood in silence and turned their backs when Hirohito's carriage passed them while others wore red gloves to symbolize the dead.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nine controversial state visits to the UK |url=https://news.sky.com/story/five-controversial-state-visits-to-the-uk-10748635 |publisher=Sky News |date=4 June 2019 |access-date=6 June 2020}}</ref> The satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' used a racist [[double entendre]] to refer to Hirohito's visit ("nasty [[Nip]] in the air").<ref>Popham, Peter (15 May 1996). [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-love-affair-at-work-turns-sour-1347366.html "A love affair at work turns sour"]. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved 15 September 2018.</ref> In [[West Germany]], the Japanese monarch's visit was met with hostile far-left protests, participants of which viewed Hirohito as the [[East Asia]]n equivalent of [[Adolf Hitler]] and referred to him as "Hirohitler", and prompted a wider comparative discussion of the memory and perception of Axis war crimes. The protests against Hirohito's visit also condemned and highlighted what they perceived as mutual Japanese and West German complicity in and enabling of the American [[Vietnam War|war effort]] against communism in [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Macartney |first=Alex F. |title=Hirohitler on the Rhine: Transnational Protest Against the Japanese Emperor's 1971 West German State Visit |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=622–644 |date=27 April 2020 |s2cid=219066676 |doi=10.1177/0022009420907666}}</ref>

Regarding these protests and opposition, Emperor Hirohito was not surprised to have received a report in advance at a press conference on 12 November after returning to Japan and said that "I do not think that welcome can be ignored" from each country.<ref name="otazune193" /> Also, at a press conference following their golden wedding anniversary three years later, along with the Empress, he mentioned this visit to Europe as his most enjoyable memory in 50 years.<ref name="otazune193">[[#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988]]{{Broken anchor|date=16 June 2024|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=#陛下、お尋ね申し上げます 1988|reason= }} p. 193</ref>

====Visit to the United States====
[[File:Ford and Emperor1975.jpg|thumb|Empress Nagako, First Lady [[Betty Ford]], Emperor Hirohito, and President [[Gerald Ford]] at the White House before a state dinner held in honor of the Japanese head of state for the first time, 2 October 1975]]

In 1975, Hirohito and Nagako visited the United States for 14 days from 30 September to 14 October, at the invitation of President Gerald Ford. The visit was the first such event in US–Japanese history.{{efn|The reason a visit had not occurred prior to this was, in part, because the [[Act for Extraordinary Vicarious Execution of State Affairs]] had not yet been put into law. Despite this, visits to the United States had been planned in 1973 and 1974, but never occurred owing to lack of coordination.}} The United States Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard honored the state visit. Before and after the visit, a series of terrorist attacks in Japan were caused by anti-American left-wing organizations such as the [[East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front]].

After arriving in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] on 30 September 1975, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako stayed in the United States for two weeks.<ref>{{cite web |title=1975 saw Hirohito in Williamsburg |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19890107-1989-01-07-8901070135-story.html |website=Daily Press |date=7 January 1989 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> The official meeting with President Ford occurred on 2 October.<ref>[https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0204/7368373.pdf Ford Library Museum]</ref> On 3 October, Hirohito visited [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Times |first=Philip Shabecoff Special to The New York |date=4 October 1975 |title=At Arlington Cemetery, a Wreath From 'the Emperor and Empress of Japan' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/04/archives/at-arlington-cemetery-a-wreath-from-the-emperor-and-empress-of.html |access-date=28 November 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On 6 October, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako visited Vice President and Mrs. Rockefeller at their home in [[Westchester County, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |date=6 October 1975 |title=A Rare Glimpse |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/06/archives/a-rare-glimpse.html |access-date=28 November 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In a speech at the White House state dinner, Hirohito read, "Thanks to the United States for helping to rebuild Japan after the war." During his stay in Los Angeles, he visited [[Disneyland]], and a smiling photo next to [[Mickey Mouse]] adorned the newspapers,<ref>{{cite web |last=Moffat |first=Susan |date=20 June 1994 |title=Image-Building a Goal of Japan Emperor's Visit |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-20-mn-6343-story.html |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> and there was talk about the purchase of a Mickey Mouse watch. Two types of commemorative stamps and stamp sheets were issued on the day of their return to Japan{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} which demonstrated that the visit had been a significant undertaking. This was the last visit of Emperor Shōwa to the United States. The official press conference held by the Emperor and Empress before and after their visit also marked a breakthrough.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

====Marine biology====
[[File:Emperor Showa in laboratory.jpg|thumb|Emperor Hirohito in his laboratory (1950)]]
Hirohito was deeply interested in and well-informed about marine biology, and the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]] contained a laboratory from which Hirohito published several papers in the field under his personal name "Hirohito".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/about/history/history11.html |title=The brief career of the Emperor Showa (Imperial Household Agency, Japanese) |publisher=Kunaicho.go.jp |access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref> His contributions included the description of several dozen species of [[Hydrozoa]] new to science.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/hydrozoa/aphia.php?p=taxlist&searchpar=4&tComp=begins&tName=hirohito&action=search&rSkips=0&adv=0 |title=Hydrozoa Taxon List |publisher=World Hydrozoa Database |access-date=6 January 2016}}</ref>