17. The influence of the emperor’s younger brother, Yasuhito
Yasuhito, who bore the title Prince Chichibu, was the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito. During the early years of the emperor’s reign, Yasuhito was in sympathy with the views of the factions which wanted to establish a military dictatorship in Japan, with the emperor exercising direct control as an absolute monarch. Whether he was actively involved in the coup attempt of February 1936 is argued among historians, but there is no debate that he argued forcefully with the emperor over suspending the constitution in its wake, and assuming direct control of the machinery of government. Yasuhito was a commissioned officer of the army and served in China before traveling to Europe in the late 1930s.
While touring Europe Yasuhito visited Germany without his usual entourage, meeting with Adolf Hitler in Nuremberg. From his meeting and observations in Nazi Germany, the prince took back to Japan a belief that an alliance with the Germans was to the empire’s benefit. At the time the emperor did not agree, and Yasuhito’s views were unwelcome at first, but he gradually persuaded the leaders of the army and navy, who supported his arguments with his older brother. Gradually Hirohito was led to accept their views and endorse the alliance with Germany and Italy. Though Yasuhito was familiar with, and likely complicit, in the many war crimes committed by the Japanese in China, he was never charged or brought to trial for any of them.
