V ' i . ' t '.
Japan's Unusual fl
1 ni7Q
1VU U.JL
Family
51
SX 'SSiSjs&aiil
The royal family's eyes are on young Prince Hiro. L. to H the
Empress, Crown Prince and Princess, the Emperor, Prince Yoshi.
Emperor Hrohito visits home for war orphans.
As the emperor celebrates his 60th birthday, he is no longer a god
just the father of a family that has learned a new way of life
By JAY GLUCK
Long ago most of the gods who walked the earth
either exiled themselves atop mountains, met
tragic ends, or simply became men. Somehow, one
of them held out until IS years ago when the last
of the celestial emperors, the "manifest god" Hiro
hito, left his walled Olympus in Tokyo to address
his war-weary worshippers on Aug. 15, 1945.
Almost no one outside the Imperial Court or the
innermost government circle knew his voice. Now
the entire nation heard their god-emperor ask that
all "endure the unendurable" and surrender.
The new-"man" was created on April 29, 1946,
his 45th birthday. He publicly renounced his divin
ity. Photographs of the Imperial family at home,
dressed and acting like an ordinary, but Western
ized, family were released to the press.
The public came to know the Emperor as a man
who prefers occidental food, can't eat piping-hot
food, is an accomplished marine biologist with sev
eral discoveries to his credit, prefers a beat-up
Panama hat and shorts for a romp in the woods.
They saw the Empress Nagako as a plump, ma
ternal figure who changed over from kimono to the
more practical and cheaper Western-style dress
"and whose dressmaker was New York-trained.
Hirohito's birthday on Saturday was a national
bank holiday. It was his 60th, considered especially
auspicious because now he has rounded out the
complete life cycle of the 12 zodiacal beasts multi-
plied by the five elements.
But the former god is still only the "symbol of
state." Neither the throne nor the man in it has
any power. Japanese over- 50 years old may idolize
him, especially the rural populace who keep a wait
ing list of volunteers to clean the palace grounds,
but there is a younger core of antagonism the war
widows and veterans of the brutal army. .'
' Yet students in Japan today are generally less
anti-emperor than a decade ago when they forcibly
barred his visit to a national university. They toler
ate the emperor system but fear that Hirohito or
the next emperor may once more become the un
' willing tool of greedy men.
The personalities of Crown Prince Akihito and
his bride may decide their future; Princess Michiko
was chosen with care both by the court chamber
lain and by the Prince, who made the final choice.
Crown Princess Michiko's dowry was reportedly
tremendous. Her father is the largest miller in
Japan, and she probably has more real wealth than
the Prince, whose family has only modest means
and allowances compared with European crowned
heads. After the birth of the Imperial infant, the
price of flour, the "poor man's food," rose. To many,
the increase was "to pay the Imperial dowry."
Suga, Prince AJdhito's sister, is a disc jockey.
1 '
Michiko has made little outward impression upon
the serious male students of Japan. But then, no girl
is supposed to. Her impact is on the young women.
At public Imperial appearances, waiting crowds
(which before the war could not look upon the dei
ties) consist more and more of young wives holding
their tots up to see, indoctrinating them early with
an affection for the Imperial family.
Prince akihito's youngest sister, Suga, is an asset
She is dynamic, intelligent, and photogenic
traits not notable in the family. Since only the Em
peror, his sons, and unmarried daughters' may now
hold titles, Suga is a "commoner," married to the
"commoner" scion of a once-noble house almost as
ancient as her own. She conducts a popular disc
jockey program and is considered a well-bred beat
- nik. She is much different from her older sisters,
the modest ex-princess housewives Teru, Taka, and
Yori. They are rarely heard of today, although Yori
established the democratic pattern a decade ago by
working in a department store.
The only other prince is Yoshi, popularly known
as "Martian" because of his outsized head. He will
become a marine biologist like his father.
A L:u : :u:L. ..Uilrl
nmuim (11 11 iiilil llivi c icatiiig uicu wiiau,
Prince Hiro, m their own way. Hiro s nursery ad
joins their bedroom in their modest new "palace"
actually a medium-sized mansion bereft of cour
tiers. Their stylish Tokyo residential district has
many Americans and Europeans, some of whom
live more palatially.
As the Emperor celebrates his 60th birthday, he
can look back with satisfaction on the trying years
since he abdicated as a "god." He has maintained
his tottering throne and has shown his children how
to live in a new and confused world an accom
plishment any father would be proud of. 1
COVER:
Wading waist-high in a sea of golden daf
fodils,' this little silken-haired charmer,
captured by photographer Doris Finney,
contemplates the wonder of buds in bloom.
LEONARD S. DAVIDOW Prfidtnl and P.Miintr
WAITER C. DRZYFUS Vic President
PATRICK i. O'ROURKE Aimtuine Director
MORTON RANK Direr lor of Pnbliuhcr RrUtiotu
. Snd all advertising communications to Family Weekly.
153 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago I, III.
Address all communication! about editorial features to
Family Weekly, 60 f.. 36th St., New York 22, N. Y.
April 30, 1 961
Board of Editors
ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-Chiel
REN KARTMAN Ezmtivo Editor
ROBERT FITZOIBBON Maiiaoino Editor
MAROARET BELl Feature Editor
PHILLIP DYKSTRA Art Oircetor
MELANIE DE PROFT Food Editor
Bob Drlscoll. John Hochmonn, Jerry Klein, Harold london,
Murray Miller, Jock Ryan; Peer Oppenhelmer, Hollywood.
IM1, FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE. INC., 133 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago I, III. All right, rested.