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But to the young Hirohito it must have appeared sublime—the ultimate ritual in a national religion which teaches that war is man's greatest glory, that unquestioning obedience is his chief purpose in life, that the utter denial of the individual is his greatest peace—a spiritual totalitarianism more primeval and more potent than anything Naziism ever dreamed of. The Way of the Gods. For 1,300 years Shinto (The Way of the Gods) was challenged and eclipsed by Buddhism as the imperial dynasty was eclipsed by the shogunate. But in 1868 it became Japan's state religion, a cult of the dead based on ancestor worship, and resumed its interrupted task of molding the Japanese people for their divine mission of conquest.
It was Shinto that fostered Japan's feverish nationalism. It was Shinto that inspired Article I of Japan's constitution, which says: "The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal," and Article III, which says: "The Emperor is sacred and inviolable." It was Shinto that taught Japanese law students: "Subjects have no mind apart from the will of the Emperor." Shinto taught Japanese Army privates: "Those who, with the words 'Tenno Heika Banzai!' (May the Emperor live forever!) on their lips, have consummated a tragic death in battle, whether they are good or whether they are bad, are thereby sanctified."
And it was Shinto that molded the Emperor of Japan into its supreme symbol. Hirohito has seldom, if ever, deviated from its exacting practices.
The Crown Prince. In his adolescence, Hirohito was stirred by the same restlessness and curiosity about the western world that was disturbing many of his future subjects.
The elder statesmen close to the throne were men of western ideas, like astute Prince Saionji, who promoted a Japanese version of parliamentarianism and constitutional monarchy. In 1921, with their support, Crown Prince Hirohito decided to go abroad. Never before had an imperial Heir Apparent left the Land of the Gods. Shinto jingoists threatened to fling themselves in fanatic immolation under the train that bore the Crown Prince to his ship. But Hirohito was not deterred, and this 20th Century form of hara-kiri did not take place.
In Europe, then desperately trying to scramble out of the ruins and the many million graves of World War I, the shy, slack-chinned, bespectacled Prince found himself constantly teetering on the brink of sacrilege. In Paris he went shopping and discovered he needed money, which imperial etiquette forbade him to touch. Iri London's Guildhall he got entangled in the long scroll of a speech he was reading. The audience, undisciplined by Shinto, found it hard to suppress a titter. Hirohito took a subway ride, incognito, and his entourage was horrified when a brusque Cockney conductor berated him for having no ticket.
The Crown Prince returned to Japan with several western notions. He thought that he would mix more with his subjects. He tried out the idea on a group of university students who were forewarned to dispense with ceremony. The adoring students all but mobbed the Heir Apparent.