Basic Information
Name: Emperor Shōwa
Nickname: Hirohito
Born: April 29th, 1901
Died: January 7th, 1989
Nationality: Japanese
Hometown: Aoyama Detached Palace, Japan
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Emperor of Japan
Education: Gakushūin (Peers School), Tōgū-gogakumonsho
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Emperor Taishō, Empress Teimei
Siblings: Prince Chichibu
Spouse: Princess Nagako of Kuni
Children: Princess Teru (Shigeko), Princess Hisa (Sachiko), Princess Taka (Kazuko), Princess Yori (Atsuko), Emperor of Japan (Akihito), Prince Hitachi (Masahito), Princess Suga (Takako)
Friends: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Fascists, Imperialists
Foes: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, China
Analysis
Shōwa and Tell
Hirohito probably isn't one of the first guys you think of when the words "20th-century dictator" are uttered. (Because, you know, nothing gets a party going like talking about 20th-century dictators.)
But it should be.
Emperor Shōwa was the 124th emperor of Japan. Known more commonly in the West by his personal name Hirohito, he was the official head of state during World War II. (Source)
His early reign, which began on December 25th, 1926, was marked by domestic governmental and military turmoil complete with rebellions, assassination attempts, and politically driven murder among the ruling elite. This soap opera-like atmosphere was only enhanced by broader national difficulties. Though Japan was an established world power at the time, it also suffered from financial crises like much of the world in the years leading up to World War II.
(The 1930s were a rough time for pretty much everyone.)
Imperial Imposition
Similar to the situations in Italy and Germany, the 1920s and 1930s in Japan saw a rise in extreme nationalism as a response to economic hardship (among other things). These fascist developments conveniently coincided with the already existing institution of Japanese imperialism, which sought to spread its control over all of Asia in the name of Japan's supposed right to take whatever it wanted.
On July 7th, 1937, Japan invaded China in a major move toward its goal of dominating the region. This military action marked the beginning of what is called the Second Sino-Japanese War, and for many marks one of the earliest stages of World War II. (Source)
It's also a defining reason why Hirohito should be on your radar as one of the big bad dictators of the last century.
Dictator Friends
Approximately three years later, the ratification of the Tripartite Pact would officially incorporate Hirohito's Japan into World War II as an Axis power with Germany and Italy. With Germany occupying France and Great Britain hanging on by a thread, it was only a matter of time before the United States broke with its neutrality foreign policy.
Japan had long been hatching plans to attack the United States. On December 7th, 1941, Hirohito-appointed Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō ordered the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service to bomb the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii Territory.
This act of aggression was a declaration of war…which the United States promptly responded to with its own declaration of war. With America now at the party, World War II was full blown.
Hirohito on Hiroshima (and Nagasaki)
The war in the East ended after the United States took the literal nuclear option, bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945. The attacks resulted in the unconditional surrender of the Japanese on August 15th, 1945, and Hirohito gave a speech the following day in which he cited the travesty of atomic weapons as a major contributing factor to their defeat. (Source)
Hirohito would continue to act for the rest of his life as emperor, if in name only. Though many atrocities and human rights violations were attributed to him, he was never prosecuted for war crimes.
After the conclusion of World War II, he lived for more than 40 more years, dying on January 7th, 1989.