Today is the anniversary of the end of the second world war in Asia. Many press reports that I have read say stuff like “ at that time, the Japanese considered the Emperor to be a God.”
I have a great deal of difficulty with this sentence. I genuinely do not understand it. I know that in ancient times in various parts of Europe, people somehow became “ gods” and I understand that even today the Catholic Church elevates some dead people to the rank of Saint, which is perhaps a similar idea even though in the one case the person is dead and in the other, perhaps not yet. These situations also create some confusion in me, an inveterate atheist.
So why am I posting here? I wondered if someone could cast light on the Japanese idea of the emperor-god. Does the sentence mean exactly what it seems to say on the tin? Or
Is it a question of poor translation into the English word “god”? What exactly was the concept of “the Emperor is God” in pre-1945 Japan?
by ginestre