HIROHITO: Also called Showa, a 
modern emperor of JAPAN. His reign 
lasted from before World War II 
through the period of reconstruction 
and the transformation of JAPAN into 
one the world's major industrial 
powers. Hirohito (1901-1989) assumed 
the throne in 1926 upon the death of his 
father the Emperor Taisho. As crown 
prince, Hirohito visited the island of 
OKINAWA, where he first witnessed an 
exhibition of KARATE-JUTSU. He had 
always been a supporter of the martial 
arts until his last days he was an avid 
fan of SUMO wrestling. When he 
retuned to JAPAN, he reported to his 
father on the local martial arts that he 
had seen in OKINAWA and encouraged 
the Ministry of Education to invite 
FUNAKOSHI GICHIN to JAPAN to 
teach KARATE. (See also Japan article).