Future of a Symbol

Early in the war, OWI passed the word around: call Hitler & Mussolini any fighting word that comes to mind—but go easy on Emperor Hirohito.

The slight, myopic man known as O-Tenshi-Sami, Son of Heaven, is a religious symbol, explained OWI. As such, he is a potent puppet in the hands of the warlords—but some day he might be an equally useful puppet to the Allies.

Last week the State Department’s grey, granite-jawed Joseph C. Grew, longtime U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo, spoke up “unofficially” in favor of letting the Japanese people keep their symbolic Mikado. Said he: “The Emperor did not want war.” Once the military clique surrounding the throne is defeated, the fanatical cult of Shinto “can be an asset, not a liability.”

Some Washington dopesters wondered whether Diplomat Grew was advance man for a new official U.S. line, based on an understanding with Britain and China. This suspicion was strengthened by the New Year’s Day message of China’s Chiang Kaishek. Said the Generalissimo, who is the man to see about the Japanese future: at Cairo he and Messrs. Roosevelt & Churchill had agreed (see p. 36).