August 14, 1945

I know that I resigned from my office almost a year ago, but today Japan resigned its duty to itself. It surrendered to them. It surrendered to the Allies.

There is little point in continuing my life for a nation that does not trust itself. All I will say now is goodbye.

August 1945

They came back. Those Americans came back. They came twice. We have lost, the people know. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are nonexistent. All that exists in their place are clouds of smoke. Nothing else is left. Nothing remains. We do not have enough hospitals, we do not have enough.... I underestimated them. I thought they would give up. I thought we surprised them. I thought... There is little use of that reflection. What is to be done next must be decided. We perform our duty. We serve till our last breath. Those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki served and performed their duties to this nation. They fulfilled their purpose.

December 7, 1941

I have not been able to update these entries as often as I had hoped. I have become Prime Minister now, responsibilities have increased. I am told to do what is best, I command attacks. It has been quite busy lately. I have had to analyze the patterns and threats that many countries pose to Japan. We are in need of raw materials. We need oil, we need rubber. For that we must invade, we must conquer. Yet I do not want to push the country into war. I want to take what we need but I do not want war.

America. Again, that America. They threaten us with their Pacific fleet just sitting there at Pearl Harbor. I know they will interfere. They do not like our alliance with Germany and Italy. I know they do not. We must strike before they do. And they will strike. The matter is only of when.

As I write, our Navy Air Service flies to Pearl Harbor to eliminate us of our problems from these poorly disciplined Americans.

I should also mention that today I will put out a radio announcement. Today Japan declares war on the United States.

My Review on Hijōji kokumin zenshū (1934)

I wrote a book recently. Or rather, a chapter of it -- a synopsis and opinion of which I will give you now. The Russian-Japanese war was our victory. Our victory of our ideals. Simply because we stood tall. We put our country and emperor before our lives. We served and performed our duty with heroism and humbleness. They did not. They feared for their lives. They wanted to live. They were weak. They were not disciplined. We cannot -- and will not -- be them. We must mobilize, be ready for war from any direction always. If we centralize all our powers and use them to their maximum efficiencies, we will remain undefeated. We serve till our last breath, and protect this land in every way we can. We will adopt a "national defense state" for the nation's safety. We will maintain our discipline. If we never break our line, they can never break ours either.

1922 America

America. There is nothing great about this country that everyone boasts about. And my brief visit by train is enough proof of that. The people here have little focus, their attention span always flits from their money, to their physical desires, to some party someone spoke of once, to the consumption of alcohol which is supposedly banned. Banned. Yet they continue. Are these the people who will die for their country? Will they even have enough courage in them to stand straight in front of us even if we are unarmed? Are these the people who we are sweating tears and blood to negotiate with? They are not worth my time. Not worth my country's time. Not worth my emperor's time. These are soft, they know no discipline; if there should ever be a war, they will lose their valor and fortitude within minutes.

October 17, 1895

There is no room for failure. I am yet to turn to the eleventh year of my life, but I am aware of my responsibilities. My duty is to my country. It is to my Emperor. To die defending either, means to die in respect, having fulfilled my life to its greatest extent. I am hardly intelligent in the standards of my esteemed teachers, but I will prove myself. I will show them all the extent I am willing to go to. One of the boys at the academy today was questioning his duty again; that cannot be forgiven. That will not be taken lightly, not for as long as I stand, not for as long as I can do something about it. We fought today -- the boy and I -- he said he had the right to feel that way. Imagine that, the right to feel that way?! There is no such thing, there is only duty and honor, to my country and my emperor.