1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, September 2 Crown Prince Hirohito’s European tour ended successfully. The battleship Katori carrying Imperial Prince Hirohito arrived at Tokyo Bay one day earlier than scheduled. Kimigayo and banzai were welcomed by those who anchored in Tateyama Bay and filled the land and sea. According to the True Record of Emperor Showa, tens of thousands of visitors waved national flags and shouted “banzai” repeatedly along the bay’s coast. In the afternoon, about 30,000 elementary and middle school students from Chiba Prefecture held a flag parade. At night, a large procession of red lanterns is held at Tateyama Beach by residents of both Tateyama and Hojo. The crown prince raised his hands in that direction every time he sang the cheer. At that time, young Crown Prince Hirohito was extremely popular. Since Hirohito was born on April 29, 1901 (1901), his age is 20 years old.
By the way, Imperial Prince Hirohito arrived in Tokyo Bay one day earlier because of his smooth trip, but he could land in Yokohama in the afternoon, but he went out of his way to stay overnight in Tateyama. The situation around here is recorded in the diary of Prime Minister Takashi Hara. The day before, on September 1, Minister of the Imperial Household Nobuaki Makino consulted with the Crown Prince, and as the Crown Prince himself would like to land as soon as possible after his six-month trip, the ceremony related to his arrival had already been set up in three days, so it seems that Hara decided that he had no choice but to spend a whole day and night in Tateyama Bay.
For Emperor Showa, his visit to Europe during his youth was a valuable experience that he will never forget. In particular, in the United Kingdom, through exchanges with King George V and lectures by Professor Tanner, a constitutional law scholar at Cambridge University, I learned that restrictions on the rights of kings in a constitutional kingdom, that the official will of the king must be endorsed by Congress and public opinion, and that the King of England sometimes adjusts or relaxes internal and external policies. A glimpse into the essence of Britain’s constitutional monarchy greatly influenced later Emperor Showa’s understanding of Japan’s national structure.
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