The emperor’s awkwardness was apparent from the first moments of his very first tour. On February 19, 1946 he visited a factory and black market in Yokohama. The black market, he said, was “interesting.” The next day he appeared at a camp for repatriated people, where he asked an official two questions. The first was, “What sort of feelings do these military and civilian repatriates have when they return to Japan?” The second concerned what was being done so that former Formosan and Korean colonial subjects could return home “with true gratification.” These “conversations,” recorded by NHK
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