Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa)

“We have resolved to endure the unendurable and suffer what is insufferable.”

“The fruits of victory are tumbling into our mouths too quickly.”

“Henceforth, we shall be with our people. We shall share our fate with them. We shall share our weal and woe.”

“The ties between us and our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths.”

“I made efforts to swallow tears and to protect the species of the Japanese nation.”

“It is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come.”

“My heart is filled with the deepest sorrow for the people who have lost their lives and for the bereaved families.”

“The thoughts of my Grandfather, Emperor Meiji, are with me, and I have to take all the steps I can to avoid war.”

“Indeed, We declared war on America and Britain out of Our sincere desire to ensure Japan's self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from Our thought either to encroach upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.”

“Let the entire nation continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith of the imperishableness of its divine land, and mindful of its heavy burden of responsibilities, and the long road before it.”