Bulletin > Volume 13 The Death of an Emperor: Reactions in the Religious Press of Japan

Swyngedouw, Jan, James Heisig, and Watanabe Manabu, trans.

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The following five editorials, drawn from major religious newspapers of Japan, indicate the range of reactions to the recent passing of Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Shōwa, after the era name). The Jinja Shinpō is a weekly publication of the Association of Shinto Shrines; Bukkyō Times is a general Buddhist newspaper; Chūgai Nippō is an independent religious newspaper, originally of a Buddhist stamp; The Catholic Weekly is Roman Catholic; and the Kirisuto Shinbun is an independent Protestant publication. While English is not always suited to communicating the nuances of language that treat the emperor as an ordinary person or show him special deference, we have endeavored to keep as much of the flavor of the original as we could.