On this day 36 years ago, on January 7, 1989 (November 30, 1988 in the lunar calendar), Emperor Hirohito of Japan passed away due to illness. Japan held a funeral for Emperor Hirohito of Japan 62 years after he ascended the throne and was once regarded as a god. On January 7, 1989, he passed away due to bowel cancer at the age of 87. He was buried in a forest cemetery. Hirohito's life has gone through vicissitudes, and some say he is a witness to Japan's modern history. Hirohito was born on April 29, 1901, with the title Di Gong. He was the eldest son of Taisho Emperor Kayin. He was canonized as Crown Prince in November 1916 and ascended the throne in December 1926, succeeding the 124th Emperor. During the first half of his reign, Japanese militarism launched the September 18 Incident, the July 7 Lugouqiao Incident, and the Pearl Harbor Incident, which launched a war against the United States, Britain, and other allied forces. Under the slogans of "developing imperial power" and "Yakohiro", thousands of Japanese were deceived and motivated to serve in the war of aggression. The 14-year war brought profound disasters to the people of Asian countries and pushed Japan to the brink of collapse. After the defeat, there were people in Japan and abroad who argued that Emperor Hirohito should be held accountable for the war. But Hirohito later explained that between his reign and the end of the war, he actually made only two personal decisions. Once, after the "February 16" Incident in 1936, he advocated punishing the young and strong soldiers who launched a rebellion, and another time, at the "Imperial Council" on August 14, 1945, he announced that Japan accepted the Potsdam Proclamation and surrendered unconditionally. On January 1, 1946, Hirohito issued the "Personality Declaration", which stated that he was "a man, not a god," thus repudiating the tradition that the emperor had been worshipped as a god for more than a thousand years. A year later, Japan's new constitution explicitly stipulated that the emperor existed only as a "symbol of the Japanese state" and could only engage in symbolic and ceremonial state affairs with the advice and consent of the cabinet, and had no power over state affairs. From then on, Hirohito performed his duties strictly in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. He signs about 1,100 documents a year, participates in symbolic state events about 50 times, participates in ceremonial events about 200 times, and sends about 600 letters and congratulatory messages to foreign heads of state. Sometimes he also visits foreign countries as a representative of Japan for friendly activities. He is the longest-serving emperor in Japanese history. Hirohito signed the Japanese constitution in 1946. Since his childhood, Hirohito has loved nature. After he ascended the throne, he devoted himself to biological research in his spare time in politics, and he has a deep knowledge in the field of biological taxonomy. The biological research institute he established in the Imperial Palace has more than 60,000 plant specimens on display alone. He has also published 17 monographs such as "Atlas of Postpartum Gills in Sagami Bay" and "The Flora of Nasu", some of which have sold as many as 60,000 copies. In 1971, he was elected a full member of the Royal Society. Journalists at Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun called Hirohito the "Emperor of Scientists" with emotion.