Official Records of Late Japan Empress Kojun’s Life Published

Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Imperial Household Agency on Thursday released the full text of the official records of the 97-year life of the late Empress Kojun (1903-2000), the wife of Emperor Showa, which include details of her experiences during World War II. The official records of Empress Kojun and her two predecessors are now complete, laying the groundwork for research on empresses, the agency said. According to the records, Empress Kojun, known as Empress Nagako before her death, spent the whole of Aug. 15, 1945, when Emperor Showa declared Japan’s surrender in World War II, inside a bunker facility that also served as her home at the time. She listened to the Emperor’s announcement of the defeat on the radio. She later spoke about the war, including at events of the Japanese Red Cross Society, such as an ordinary general meeting in December 1946 and a ceremony marking her appointment as the organization’s honorary president in January 1947. At a national convention on child welfare held at the Japanese Red Cross Society in May 1947, Empress Kojun said, “When I think about children who lost (either or both) parents from the war and the ensuing repatriation, I feel pain wondering if I can somehow make these lovely children happy.” The official records logged Empress Kojun’s activities before and during the war, including individually holding meetings with senior Japanese military officials and applying bandages on those injured in fighting. She received expert briefings from legal scholar Shigeto Hozumi from 1924 to 1950. Records of the late Empress’ life prior to her marriage include an overview of an “ogakumonjo” Imperial study hall opened in 1918 and her activities during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Tokyo and surrounding areas, which occurred when she was staying in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan. After World War II, Emperor Showa, known as Emperor Hirohito before his death, and Empress Kojun together toured around Japan, attending regional events such as the then National Sports Festival, now the Japan Games, and the National Tree Planting Festival. Empress Kojun went to Europe in 1971 for her first trip abroad and visited the United States in 1975. The late Empress’ health problems caused by old age are also documented, such as having had difficulties performing rituals since hurting her lower back at the Nasu Imperial Villa in Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, in July 1977. Of the roughly 1,500 materials used in the compilation of the official records, which took 17 years, documents from the Kuninomiya branch of the Imperial Family to which Empress Kojun belonged prior to her marriage, the daily records of the ogakumonjo and documents related to the Hozumi family were used for the first time. The approximately 3,800-page full text will be made public on the Imperial Household Agency’s website at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]