7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

1945, Japan was close to defeat and opinion among the

country’s leaders was divided between those favouring

surrender and those insisting on a desperate defense of

the home islands against an anticipated invasion by the

Allies. Hirohito settled the dispute in favour of those urg-

ing peace. He broke the precedent of imperial silence on

Aug. 15, 1945, when he made a national radio broadcast to

announce Japan’s acceptance of the Allies’ terms of sur-

render. In a second historic broadcast, made on Jan. 1,

1946, Hirohito rejected the traditional quasi-divine status

of Japan’s emperors.

Under the nation’s new constitution, drafted by U.S.

occupation authorities, Japan became a constitutional

monarchy. Sovereignty resided in the people, not in the

emperor, whose powers were severely curtailed. In an

effort to bring the imperial family closer to the people,

Hirohito began to make numerous public appearances and

permitted publication of pictures and stories of his per-

sonal and family life. In 1959 his oldest son, Crown Prince

Akihito, married a commoner, Shōda Michiko, breaking a

1,500-year tradition. In 1971 Hirohito broke another tradi-

tion when he toured Europe and became the first reigning

Japanese monarch to visit abroad. In 1975 he made a state

visit to the United States. Upon his death in 1989, Hirohito

was succeeded as emperor by Akihito.

Sukarno

(b. June 6, 1901, Surabaja, Java, Dutch East Indies—d. June 21, 1970,

Jakarta, Indonesia)

S

ukarno was the leader of the Indonesian independence

movement and Indonesia’s first president, serving from

1949 to 1966.

Born on the Indonesian island of Java in 1901, Sukarno

was the only son of a poor Javanese schoolteacher. He