Americans sat in shock on July 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon announced he would visit the People’s Republic of China. Long heralded as a staunch anti-communist, the president did not feel his decision was an about face on his feelings regarding communism, but rather that it created an opportunity for leverage against the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War, as well as provided a strategic move against the Soviet Union. His visit to mainland China, which took place in February the following year, was a first for a sitting president.
From Enemies to Friends
Twenty-six years prior to Nixon’s announcement, the United States was making plans to end the bloodiest conflict in human history. The war in Europe had concluded in May of 1945 with the taking of Berlin by the Allies. The war in the Pacific, however, was still months, possibly many months away from ending. The United States had conducted its island-hopping campaign with success, but with a lot of bloodshed. Now that mainland Japan was in its sights, the demand for unconditional surrender was made on July 26 by the United States, Great Britain, and China in Potsdam, Germany. The leadership of Imperial Japan chose to fight.
On Aug. 6 and 9, American bombers flew over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, and dropped atomic bombs. The Japanese were forced to either surrender or possibly witness the end of their civilization. Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, made the unprecedented step of intervening in the governmental process. He followed up with another unprecedented step of making a public announcement to his people, informing them that Japan was surrendering.
The U.S. Army, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, occupied Japan until 1952, conducting military, political, economic, and social reforms. One of the agreements made between Japan and the United States before the occupation began was that Hirohito would still remain emperor of Japan, even if just a figurehead.
Hirohito, on New Year’s Day 1946, made another public broadcast known as the “Declaration of Humanity,” in which he announced that the relationship between him and his people was “not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world.”
Hirohito would remain Japan’s emperor for several more decades, and it was one of the few nations in Asia that did not fall under Soviet influence. China, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, and others adopted Soviet-style communist governments (some more extreme than others). Toward the end of the American occupation, the Korean War broke out, in which Japan became the supply depot for the United Nation troops that fought the Soviet-backed North Koreans.
A Royal Tour
A quarter century had passed since World War II and Hirohito and his wife, Empress Nagako, were scheduled to visit Europe to confirm Japan’s relations with its fellow democratic nations. Throughout the fall of 1971, the emperor and empress would visit Denmark, Belgium, France, Britain, The Netherlands, and Germany―the last an important diplomatic undertaking especially in the midst of the Cold War.
Before the royal couple reached Europe, they had a layover in Alaska. Nixon, believing it prudent and a geopolitical necessity, scheduled to meet Hirohito and the empress. The President and First Lady made the two-day 4,200-mile journey to Anchorage, Alaska.
During this week in history, Sept. 26, 1971, Hirohito landed in Anchorage at 10 p.m., where he remained until leaving on his connecting flight at 11:40 p.m. It was the first time for Hirohito or any Japanese monarch to step on American soil. In fact, Hirohito had never stepped foot in another country as emperor (he had visited Europe when he was the Crown Prince, and was also the first member of a Japanese royal family to ever leave Japan). The meeting between Nixon and Hirohito lasted 50 minutes, but the moment was historic.
“Your journey symbolizes Japan’s growing position in world affairs. We meet in Anchorage, Alaska, a place which is approximately the same distance between Tokyo and Washington. And this fact reminds us that for the past quarter century that we have built a structure of political, economic, and cultural ties which spans the space between our two countries,” Nixon stated in a speech at Anchorage’s Elmendorf Air Force Base.
“And may this historic meeting, the first meeting in history between the Emperor of Japan and the President of the United States, demonstrate for all the years to come the determination of our two great peoples to work together in friendship for peace and prosperity for the Pacific and for all people in the world.”
Hirohito, in his prepared speech, responded in kind: “I have no doubt whatever that the friendly relations between our two countries, cultivated during the past quarter of a century, will be increasingly strengthened by close contact and cooperation between our Governments and peoples. I thank you again, Mr. President, for your kindness and extend my best wishes for the prosperity of the United States of America.”
